Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Chex Mix Traditional Original Recipe Snack Mix ultra-processed?

Appetizers Sold in the United States

Pack of Chex Mix Traditional Original Recipe Snack Mix

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:

  • 49 ingredients
  • 14 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed appetizers

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

degermed yellow corn meal, flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whole wheat, vegetable oil (soybean oil, palm oil, fractionated palm oil, high oleic canola oil, high oleic soybean oil, high oleic sunflower oil, and corn oil), rye flour, sugar, salt, contains 2% and less of (corn maltodextrin), yeast, spices, dextrose, caramel color, monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, baking soda, onion, garlic, barley malt syrup, malt syrup, distilled monoglycerides, yellow corn flour, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, calcium carbonate, hydrolyzed soy protein, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, citric acid, paprika extract (for color), natural flavor, stuffing spices, fumaric acid, caraway, sodium diacetate, BHT

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E160c Paprika extract , E262 Sodium acetates , E262ii Sodium diacetate , E297 Fumaric acid , E321 Butylated hydroxytoluene , E330 Citric acid , E450 Diphosphates , E450iii Tetrasodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

degermed yellow corn meal, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whole wheat, vegetable oil (soybean oil, palm oil, fractionated palm oil, high oleic canola oil, high oleic soybean oil, high oleic sunflower oil, and/or corn oil), rye flour, sugar, salt, contains 2% or less of: corn maltodextrin, yeast, spices, dextrose, caramel color, monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, baking soda, onion powder, garlic powder, barley malt syrup, malt syrup, distilled monoglycerides, yellow corn flour, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, calcium carbonate, hydrolyzed soy protein, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, citric acid, paprika extract (for color), natural flavor, stuffing spices, fumaric acid, caraway, sodium diacetate, BHT

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
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  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • 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.
4 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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,497 appetizers

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2453rd. 64% of the appetizers 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 2,497 appetizers, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0016000214972, last edited 23 May 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.