Is Essential Waitrose Low fat Natural Cottage Cheese ultra-processed?

300g Fresh cheeses Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Essential Waitrose Low fat Natural Cottage Cheese

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

  • 2 ingredients
  • No additives

Less processed cheeses

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

cottage cheese (processing marker), salt (processing marker)

As written on the pack

cottage cheese (milk), salt

What makes it processed

Processed ingredients

Processed foods in their own right, such as cheese or milk powder.

  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

Culinary ingredients

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.

Category rules

Open Food Facts puts every product in this category in at least this group.

  • Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 91 fresh cheeses

From least to most processed, this one ranks 12th. 37% of the fresh cheeses 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 91 fresh cheeses, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169103425, last edited 16 July 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.