Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Earth Balance Plant Butter ultra-processed?

13 oz Margarines Sold in the United States

Pack of Earth Balance Plant Butter

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:

  • 14 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed margarines

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

oil blend (palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, and olive* oil), water, salt, less than 2% of natural flavor, soybeans, soy lecithin, lactic acid (non-dairy), and naturally extracted annatto (color)

Additives: E160b Annatto , E270 Lactic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E160b Annatto.

As written on the pack

oil blend (palm oil*, soybean oil*, canola oil*, and olive* oil), water, salt, less than 2% of natural flavor* , crushed soybeans*, soy lecithin*, lactic acid (non-dairy), and naturally extracted annatto* (color),

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.
  • 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 182 margarines

From least to most processed, this one ranks 109th. 85% of the margarines 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 182 margarines, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0033776011710, last edited 1 June 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.