Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Dairylea Cheese Spread ultra-processed?

270 g Cheese spreads Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

Pack of Dairylea Cheese Spread

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:

  • 13 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cheese spreads

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 (water, skimmed milk powder), cheese, skimmed milk powder, milk fat, stabilisers (citric acid, sodium carbonate), inulin, whey powder (from milk), calcium phosphate

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500i Sodium carbonate

As written on the pack

skimmed milk (water, skimmed milk powder),cheese, skimmed milk powder, milk fat, stabilisers (citric acid, sodium carbonate), inulin, whey powder (from milk), calcium phosphate,

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.

  • 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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.

  • Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
  • 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 112 cheese spreads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 68th. 78% of the cheese spreads 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 112 cheese spreads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7622210318985, last edited 3 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.