Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Kellogg's Special K Original Toasted Rice Cereal ultra-processed?

12 oz Breakfast cereals Sold in the United States

Pack of Kellogg's Special K Original Toasted Rice Cereal

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:

  • 7 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score D

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

Rice, wheat gluten, sugar, wheat germ, salt, malt flavor, BHT for freshness

As written on the pack

Rice, wheat gluten, sugar, defatted wheat germ, salt, malt flavor, BHT for 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.

  • 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.

  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
2 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,869 breakfast cereals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1212th. 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 1,869 breakfast cereals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0041192103674, last edited 8 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.