Is Dairylea lunchers ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 50 ingredients
- 10 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
CHEESE food (cheese (processing marker) (75 96)), skimmed MILK (water, skimmed MILK powder (processing marker)), emulsifying salts (sodium citrates, potassium citrates), MILK proteins (ultra-processing marker), butter (processing marker), skimmed MILK powder (processing marker), whey powder (ultra-processing marker) (from MILK), vitamin D, preservative (processing marker) (sorbic acid), acidity regulator (citric acid), anti-caking agent (processing marker) (sunflower lecithins (ultra-processing marker)), WHEAT crackers (WHEAT flour (7196)), sunflower oil (processing marker) 8%, WHEAT bran, sugar (processing marker), butter (processing marker), glucose-fructose syrup (ultra-processing marker), raising agents (ammonium carbonates, sodium carbonates), whey powder (ultra-processing marker) (from MILK), WHEAT germ, potassium chloride, flavourings (ultra-processing marker), flour treatment agent (sodium METABISULPHITE), Cooked formed ham (pork 85%), starch (processing marker), acidity regulators (potassium lactate (ultra-processing marker), sodium acetates), salt (processing marker), flavour enhancer (ultra-processing marker) (potassium chloride), antioxidant (sodium ascorbate)
Additives: E200 Sorbic acid , E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E262 Sodium acetates , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E322 Lecithins , E326 Potassium lactate , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E503 Ammonium carbonates
As written on the pack
CHEESE food: CHEESE (75 96), skimmed MILK (water, skimmed MILK powder), emulsifying salts (sodium citrates, potassium citrates), MILK proteins, BUTTER, skimmed MILK powder, whey powder (from MILK), vitamin D, preservative (sorbic acid), acidity regulator (citric acid), anti-caking agent (sunflower lecithins). WHEAT crackers: WHEAT flour (7196), sunflower oil (8 %), WHEAT bran, sugar, BUTTER, glucose-fructose syrup, raising agents (ammonium carbonates, sodium carbonates), whey powder (from MILK), WHEAT germ, potassium chloride, flavourings (contains MILK), flour treatment agent (sodium METABISULPHITE). Cooked formed ham: pork (85 %), starch, acidity regulators (potassium lactate, sodium acetates), salt, flavour enhancer (potassium chloride), antioxidant (sodium ascorbate)
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.
- 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.
- E326 Potassium lactate Antioxidants are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by oxidation, such as fat rancidity and colour changes.
- Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
- 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.
- Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
- 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.
- Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
9 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.
- Anti-caking agent Anti-caking agents are substances which reduce the tendency of individual particles of a foodstuff to adhere to one another.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
- Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7622201388959, last edited 27 March 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.