Is German Smoked Cheese with Ham Slices ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 21 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed cheeses
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
cheese (processing marker) 69%, reformed ham pieces 9% (pork 8.64%, sait, dextrose (ultra-processing marker), stabiliser, diphosphates (ultra-processing marker), antioxidant (sodium ascorbate), acidity regulator (sodium citrates), preservative (processing marker) (sodium nitrite (processing marker))), water, butter (processing marker), whey powder (ultra-processing marker), emulsifying salts (potassium phosphates), polyphosphates (ultra-processing marker), milk proteins (ultra-processing marker), artificial colours our and flavouring paipor
Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E331 Sodium citrates , E340 Potassium phosphates , E450 Diphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates
As written on the pack
cheese (69%) (), reformed ham pieces (9%) (pork (96%), sait, dextrose, stabiliser, diphosphates, antioxidant: sodium ascorbate, acidity regulator: sodium citrates, preservative: sodium nitrite), water, butter (milk), whey powder (milk), emulsifying salts: potassium phosphates, polyphosphates, milk proteins, allergy advice: for allergens, see ingredients in bold, may also contain nuts, no artificial colours our or flavouring paipor
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.
- E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
- E452 Polyphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
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.
- Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
- Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
5 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.
- E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
- Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
Among 1,224 cheeses
From least to most processed, this one ranks 1168th. 38% of the cheeses here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600046594, last edited 27 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.