Is it ultra-processed?
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Is General Mills Basic breakfast cereal ultra-processed?

Cereals with fruits Sold in the United States

Pack of General Mills Basic breakfast cereal

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:

  • 26 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cereals with fruits

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

Wheat, Corn Meal, Sugar, Raisins, Rice Flour, Almond Pieces, Brown Sugar Syrup, Glycerin, Oats, Cranberries, Salt, Corn Syrup, Palm Kernel Oil, Brown Sugar, Barley Malt Extract, Dextrose, Honey, Color (caramel color, annatto), Cinnamon, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols)

Additives: E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E422 Glycerol , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Meal, Sugar, Raisins, Rice Flour, Almond Pieces, Brown Sugar Syrup, Glycerin, Whole Grain Oats, Dried Cranberries, Salt, Corn Syrup, Palm Kernel Oil, Brown Sugar, Barley Malt Extract, Dextrose, Honey, Color (caramel color and annatto extract), Cinnamon, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols)

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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
3 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.

  • Honey Honey, used as a sweetener.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 224 cereals with fruits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 221st. 60% of the cereals with fruits 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 224 cereals with fruits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0016000157644, last edited 4 March 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.