Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Combos Cheddar Cheese Baked Pretzel ultra-processed?

6.3oz Sold in the United States and France

Pack of Combos Cheddar Cheese Baked Pretzel

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 12 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

wheat flour, palm oil, dairy product, maltodextrin, modified corn starch, salt, cheese blend (bakers, cheddar, parmesan, romano (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto)), baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, dextrose, soy lecithin, yeast extract, skim milk, hydrolyzed wheat gluten, natural flavor, yellow 5 lake, yellow 6 lake, blue 1 lake, lactic acid, citric acid, lactose, sodium caseinate, whey

Additives: E102 Tartrazine , E110 Sunset yellow FCF , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E160b Annatto , E270 Lactic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

WHEAT FLOUR, PALM OIL, DAIRY PRODUCT SOLIDS, MALTODEXTRIN, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SALT, CHEESE BLEND (BAKERS, CHEDDAR, PARMESAN AND ROMANO [MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES, ANNATTO]), LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE), DEXTROSE, SOY LECITHIN, YEAST EXTRACT, SKIM MILK, HYDROLYZED WHEAT GLUTEN, NATURAL FLAVOR, COLORS (YELLOW 5 LAKE, YELLOW 6 LAKE, BLUE 1 LAKE), LACTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, LACTOSE, SODIUM CASEINATE, WHEY

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.

  • E102 Tartrazine Tartrazine is a synthetic yellow azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 5 in the US).
  • E110 Sunset yellow FCF Sunset yellow FCF is a synthetic orange azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 6 in the US).
  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • E160b Annatto Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
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  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • 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.
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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0041419420058, last edited 3 October 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.