Is Chitale Foods Instant Gulab Jamun mix ultra-processed?

7 oz (200 g) Cakes Sold in the United States and India

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Hydrogenated oil

8 ingredients
2 additives

Less processed cakes

Almond Flour Pancake & Waffle Mix Original Simple Mills 7 ingredients · 4 additives NOVA group 3
Blueberry Muffin Lärabar 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Organic Classic Pancake & Waffle Mix Birch Benders 9 ingredients · 4 additives NOVA group 3
Almond Flour Baking Mix Brownie Simple Mills 11 ingredients · 2 additives NOVA group 3

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

Skimmed Milk Powder (processing marker) 43%, Refined Wheat Flour (Maida), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (ultra-processing marker) (Vanaspati), Sodium bicarbonate (e500), May Contain

Additives: E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Skimmed Milk Powder (43%), Refined Wheat Flour (Maida), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Vanaspati), Sodium bicarbonate (E500) Contains Milk Contains Wheat May Contain Traces of Nuts

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Hydrogenated oil Hydrogenation turns liquid oil into a solid fat that resists going rancid.

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.

Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.
Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 32nd. 94% of the cakes 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 377 cakes, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8906002730018, last edited 23 September 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.