Is Cream of Wheat Instant Maple Brown Sugar ultra-processed?

12.3 oz, 10x 1.23 oz packets Porridge Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E150c Ammonia caramel
E412 Guar gum

23 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed porridge

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

wheat farina, sugar (processing marker), calcium carbonate, natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), guar gum (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), wheat germ, dry molasses, caramel color, ferric orthophosphate (iron), niacinamide (vitamin b3), BHT (to preserve freshness), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin b1), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin, folic acid, cholecalciferol (vitamin d3)

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E321 Butylated hydroxytoluene , E412 Guar gum

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

As written on the pack

WHEAT FARINA, SUGAR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, NATURAL FLAVORS, GUAR GUM, SALT, DEFATTED WHEAT GERM, DRY MOLASSES, CARAMEL COLOR, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE (IRON), NIACINAMIDE (VITAMIN B3), BHT (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), FOLIC ACID, CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3)

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.
E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

2 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 160 porridge

From least to most processed, this one ranks 154th. 57% of the porridge 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 160 porridge, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0013130060530, last edited 28 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.
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.