Is Friendly Farms Probiotic Kefir ultra-processed?

32 oz Kefir Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
E440 Pectins

10 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score C

Less processed kefir

A2/A2 Organic 100% Grass-Fed Probiotic Whole Kefir Alexandre FAMILY FARM 15 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
Organic whole milk kefir Lifeway 2 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
Goat Milk Kefir Trader Joe's 11 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
kefir drink original Biotiful gut health 6 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1

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

Pasteurized lowfat milk, cane sugar (processing marker), nonfat milk, natural strawberry flavor with other natural flavors, pectin (ultra-processing marker), vegetable juice (for color (ultra-processing marker)), vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, cultures

Additives: E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Pasteurized lowfat milk, cane sugar, nonfat milk, natural strawberry flavor with other natural flavors, pectin, vegetable juice (for color), vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, cultures. Contains: milk.

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.

E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

1 ingredient that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 88 kefir

From least to most processed, this one ranks 64th. 63% of the kefir 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 88 kefir, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4099100344172, last edited 22 April 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.