Is Doritos cool original ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 20 ingredients
- 5 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed corn chips
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
corn (maize kernels), sunflower oil (processing marker) 14%, rapeseed oil, cool original flavour flavourings, salt (processing marker), glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), sugar (processing marker), potassium chloride, cheese powder from milk, flavour enhancers (ultra-processing marker) (monosodium glutamate (ultra-processing marker), disodium 5ribonucleotide), acidity regulators (malic acid, sodium acetate, citric acidl, colour (ultra-processing marker) (annatto (ultra-processing marker))), milk proteins spice
Additives: E160b Annatto , E262 Sodium acetates , E262i Sodium acetate , E296 Malic acid , E621 Monosodium glutamate
As written on the pack
corn (whole maize kernels),sunflower oil (14%), rapeseed oil, cool original flavour flavourings (contains milk), salt,glucose syrup,sugar, potassium chloride, cheese powder from milk), flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium 5ribonucleotide), acidity regulators (malic acid, sodium acetate, citric acidl, colour annatto), milk proteins spice,
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.
- 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.
- E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
- Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
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.
- Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
4 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.
- Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Among 359 corn chips
From least to most processed, this one ranks 290th. 46% of the corn chips here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000328175973, last edited 19 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.