Is Hidden Valley The Original Ranch ultra-processed?

Salad dressings Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Modified starch
E415 Xanthan gum
E621 Monosodium glutamate

24 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed salad dressings

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

Vegetable oil (processing marker) (soybean, canola), water, sugar (processing marker), salt (processing marker), buttermilk, egg yolk, natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), less than 1% of (spices), garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), modified food starch (ultra-processing marker), monosodium glutamate (ultra-processing marker), artificial flavors (ultra-processing marker), disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium edta added to preserve freshness, disodium inosinate, guanylate

Additives: E338 Phosphoric acid , E339ii Disodium phosphate , E415 Xanthan gum , E621 Monosodium glutamate

As written on the pack

Vegetable oil (soybean and/or canola), water, sugar, salt, nonfat buttermilk, egg yolk, natural flavors, less than 1% of: spices, garlic*, onion*, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid and calcium disodium edta added to preserve freshness, disodium inosinate and guanylate.

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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.

4 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.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 252 salad dressings

From least to most processed, this one ranks 183rd. 85% of the salad dressings 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 252 salad dressings, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0071100000214, last edited 12 September 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.