Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Gay Lea Sour Cream ultra-processed?

450 ml Creams Sold in Canada

Pack of Gay Lea Sour Cream

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:

  • 9 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed creams

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

milk, cream, skim milk powder, modified corn starch, guar gum, carageenan trean gum, sodium citrate, lactase enzyme, bacterial culture

Additives: E331 Sodium citrates , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

MILK, CREAM, SKIM MILK POWDER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, GUAR GUM, CARAGEENAN TREAN GUM, SODIUM CITRATE, LACTASE ENZYME, BACTERIAL CULTURE.

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.

  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
2 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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 174 creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 120th. 55% of the creams 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 174 creams, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0066013141659, last edited 23 May 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.