Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Freedom Maple & almond multigrain flakes ultra-processed?

400g Breakfast cereals Sold in Australia

Pack of Freedom Maple & almond multigrain flakes

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:

  • 43 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed breakfast cereals

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

rice flakes (rice flour, maize flour, psyllium husk, sugar, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), salt), rice puffs (rice flour, cane sugar, salt, golden syrup), seeds 15% (sunflower kernels 8.5%, linseeds, chia seeds 1.5%), multigrain flakes (buckwheat, rice, sorghum, maize, corn fibre, sugar, chickpea fibre, psyllium husk, quinoa, golden syrup, sunflower lecithin, salt), glucose, chicory fibre, sunflower oil, almonds 3%, maple syrup 2%, natural flavours, tapioca starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, probiotic culture (bacillus coagulans), antioxidant (vitamin e)

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

rice flakes (rice flour, maize flour, psyllium husk, sugar, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), salt), rice puffs (rice flour, cane sugar, salt, golden syrup), seeds (15%) (sunflower kernels (8.5%), linseeds, chia seeds (1.5%)), multigrain flakes (buckwheat, rice, sorghum, maize, corn fibre, sugar, chickpea fibre, psyllium husk, quinoa, golden syrup, sunflower lecithin, salt), glucose, chicory fibre, sunflower oil, sliced almonds (3%), maple syrup (2%), natural flavours, tapioca starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, probiotic culture (bacillus coagulans), antioxidant (vitamin e). contains: almond.

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.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • 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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • 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.
6 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.

  • Maple syrup An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
  • 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.
  • Microbial culture Microbial cultures ferment foods such as yoghurt, cheese and sourdough.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,869 breakfast cereals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1789th. 60% of the breakfast cereals 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 1,869 breakfast cereals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9326666610188, last edited 16 August 2023), 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.