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Is Hot & Spicy Cheez-It baked snack crackers ultra-processed?

12.4 oz Crackers (Appetizers) Sold in the United States

Pack of Hot & Spicy Cheez-It baked snack crackers

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:

  • 47 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed crackers (Appetizers)

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

flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin b1 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin b2 (riboflavin), folic acid), vegetable oil (soybean, palm oil with tbhq for freshness), cheese made with skim milk (skim milk, whey protein, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto extract color), salt, contains 2% and less of paprika, red bell pepper, dextrose, yeast, onion, tomato, sodium diacetate, garlic, tabasco brand green pepper sauce (jalapeno pepper, water, distilled vinegar, salt, corn starch), tabasco brand dry red flavoring (red pepper, distilled vinegar, salt), spices, citric acid, vinegar, paprika color, red pepper, natural and artificial flavor, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, soy lecithin

Additives: E262 Sodium acetates , E262ii Sodium diacetate , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

As written on the pack

enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin b1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin b2 [riboflavin], folic acid), vegetable oil (soybean and palm oil with tbhq for freshness), cheese made with skim milk (skim milk, whey protein, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto extract color), salt, contains 2% or less of paprika, red bell pepper, dextrose, yeast, onion powder, tomato powder, sodium diacetate, garlic powder, tabasco brand green pepper sauce (jalapeno pepper, water, distilled vinegar, salt, corn starch), tabasco brand dry red flavoring (red pepper, distilled vinegar, salt), spices, citric acid, vinegar solids, paprika extract color, red pepper, natural and artificial flavor, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, soy lecithin,

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.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • 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.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 715 crackers (Appetizers)

From least to most processed, this one ranks 684th. 61% of the crackers (Appetizers) 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 715 crackers (Appetizers), least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0024100789092, last edited 16 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.