Is it ultra-processed?
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Is General Mills Lucky Charms with Magic Gems ultra-processed?

526 g Extruded cereals Sold in Canada

Pack of General Mills Lucky Charms with Magic Gems

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:

  • 30 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed extruded 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

oats, Sugar, golden sugar, Corn starch, Corn syrup, Dextrose, Salt, Calcium carbonate, High monounsaturated canola, Canola, high monounsaturared sunflower oil, Gelatin, Trisodium phosphate, Gum arabic, Colour (tartrazine), Toocopherols, Natural and artificial flavour, Glycerin, Graham's salt, Vitamins, minerals (iron, niacinamide (vitamin B3), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), folate)

Additives: E102 Tartrazine , E339 Sodium phosphates , E339iii Trisodium phosphate , E414 Acacia gum , E422 Glycerol , E428 Gelatine

As written on the pack

Whole grain oats, Sugar and/or golden sugar, Corn starch, Corn syrup, Dextrose, Salt, Calcium carbonate, High monounsaturated canola, Canola and/or high monounsaturared sunflower oil, Gelatin, Trisodium phosphate, Gum arabic, Colour (tartrazine), Toocopherols, Natural and artificial flavour, Glycerin, Graham's salt, Vitamins and minerals (iron, niacinamide [vitamin B3], calcium pantothenate [vitamin B5], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], folate).

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.

  • E102 Tartrazine Tartrazine is a synthetic yellow azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 5 in the US).
  • E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E428 Gelatine Gelatine is a gelling agent made from collagen in animal skin and bones.
  • 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.

  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 373 extruded cereals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 362nd. 64% of the extruded 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 373 extruded cereals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0065633134348, last edited 1 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.