Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Chef Select Mac & Cheese with Ham with savoury cheese sauce ultra-processed?

1 kg Pasta with meat Sold in Sweden

Pack of Chef Select Mac & Cheese with Ham with savoury cheese sauce

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 40 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed pasta with meat

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Vatten, durumvete, skinka 10% (skinka, vatten, salt, druvsocker, maltodextrin, stabiliseringsmedel (difosfater, trifosfater), antioxidationsmedel (natriumaskorbat), konserveringsmedel (natriumnitrit)), rapsolja, lök, smältostberedning 4% (vatten, ost 0.9%, goudaost 0.6%, smör, modifierad stärkelse, mjölkprotein, vasslepulver (av mjölk), smältsalter (polyfosfater, difosfater), salt, surhetsreglerande medel (citronsyra)), grädde, mjölkpulver, ostpulver, vetemjöl, stärkelse, salt, kryddor, socker

Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E330 Citric acid , E450 Diphosphates , E451 Triphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates

As written on the pack

Vatten, durumvete, skinka 10 % (skinka, vatten, salt, druvsocker, maltodextrin, stabiliseringsmedel (difosfater, trifosfater), antioxidationsmedel (natriumaskorbat), konserveringsmedel (natriumnitrit)), rapsolja, lök, smältostberedning 4 % (vatten, ost 0,9 %, goudaost 0,6 %, smör, modifierad stärkelse, mjölkprotein, vasslepulver (av mjölk), smältsalter (polyfosfater, difosfater), salt, surhetsreglerande medel (citronsyra)), grädde, mjölkpulver, ostpulver, vetemjöl, stärkelse, salt, kryddor, socker,

What makes it ultra-processed

Cosmetic additives

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E452 Polyphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

Substances rarely used in home kitchens

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
9 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 8 pasta with meat

From least to most processed, this one ranks 8th. 75% of the pasta with meat here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 8 pasta with meat, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489233732, last edited 2 April 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
  • NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.