Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Great Value honey nut os ultra-processed?

Breakfast cereals Sold in the United States

Pack of Great Value honey nut os

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:

  • 42 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed breakfast 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

whole oat flour, sugar, wheat starch, modified cornstarch, honey, brown sugar, salt, wheat germ, tricalcium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, molasses, caramel color, almonds, tocopherols (preservative), canola oil, vitamins, minerals (calcium carbonate), vitamin c (sodium ascorbate, ascorbic acid), iron (ferrous fumarate), vitamin a palmitate, zinc (zinc oxide), niacinamide, vitamin b1 (thiamine mononitrate), vitamins, vitamin b6, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin d (cholecalciferol), vitamins, vitamin b2, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin b12 (cyanocobalamin), bht added to packaging to help preserve freshness

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E340 Potassium phosphates , E340iii Tripotassium phosphate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

whole oat flour, sugar, wheat starch, modified cornstarch, honey, brown sugar, salt, wheat germ, tricalcium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, molasses, caramel color, almonds, tocopherols (preservative), canola oil. vitamins and minerals: calcium carbonate, vitamin c (sodium ascorbate, ascorbic acid), iron (ferrous fumarate), vitamin a palmitate, zinc (zinc oxide), niacinamide, vitamin b1 (thiamine mononitrate), vitamin b6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin d (cholecalciferol), vitamin b2 (riboflavin), folic acid, vitamin b12 (cyanocobalamin). bht added to packaging to help preserve freshness.

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.
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.

  • Honey Honey, used as a sweetener.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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 1,868 breakfast cereals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1434th. 60% of the breakfast 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 1,868 breakfast cereals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0078742121970, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.