Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Impossible Chicken Nuggets ultra-processed?

13.5 oz (383 g) Chicken nuggets Sold in the United States

Pack of Impossible Chicken Nuggets

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:

  • 38 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed chicken nuggets

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

Water, Soy Protein, Wheat Flour, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil, and Less Of 2% (Methylcellulose), Potato Starch, Natural Flavors, Salt, Dextrose, Yeast Extract, Wheat Gluten, Dextrose, Yellow Corn Flour, Food Starch Modified, Garlic, Onion, Spices, Leavening (Cream of Tartar, Šodium Bicarbonate), Sugar, Paprika Extract (For Color), Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant), Dried Yeast Vicamins, Minerals (Zinc Gluconate), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E336 Potassium tartrates , E336i Monopotassium tartrate , E461 Methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Wheat Flour, Soybean Oil, Sunflower Oil, 2% Or Less Of: Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Natural Flavors, Salt, Cultured Dextrose, Yeast Extract, Wheat Gluten, Dextrose, Yellow Corn Flour, Food Starch Modified, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Spices, Leavening (Cream of Tartar, Šodium Bicarbonate), Sugar, Paprika Extract (For Color), Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant), Dried Yeast Vicamins & Minerals: Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12 Contains: Soy, Wheat

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.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E461 Methyl cellulose 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
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 53 chicken nuggets

From least to most processed, this one ranks 52nd. 87% of the chicken nuggets 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 53 chicken nuggets, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0816697021149, last edited 8 June 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.