Is Chex Mix Traditional Snack Mix ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 37 ingredients
- 10 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whole wheat, degermed yellow corn meal, vegetable oil (processing marker) (soybean, canola, rice bran), sugar (processing marker), contains 2% and less of (salt (processing marker)), rye flour, yeast, maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), spices, color added (ultra-processing marker), dextrose (ultra-processing marker), distilled monoglycerides, baking soda, trisodium phosphate, autolyzed yeast, yellow corn flour, calcium carbonate (ultra-processing marker), dried onion, dried garlic, hydrolyzed soy protein, citric acid, disodium inosinate (ultra-processing marker), disodium guanylate (ultra-processing marker), natural flavor (ultra-processing marker), barley malt syrup, freshness preserved by bht
Additives: E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E321 Butylated hydroxytoluene , E330 Citric acid , E339 Sodium phosphates , E339iii Trisodium phosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate
As written on the pack
enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whole wheat, degermed yellow corn meal, vegetable oil (soybean, canola and/or rice bran), sugar, contains 2% or less of: salt, rye flour, yeast, maltodextrin, spices, color added, dextrose, distilled monoglycerides, baking soda, trisodium phosphate, autolyzed yeast, yellow corn flour, calcium carbonate, dried onion, dried garlic, hydrolyzed soy protein, citric acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, natural flavor, barley malt syrup, freshness preserved by 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.
- E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
- 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.
- 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.
3 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.
- 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.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0016000159907, last edited 24 April 2023), 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.