Is Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Crushed Black Peppercorns ultra-processed?

130g Crisps Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Maltodextrin

16 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score C

Less processed crisps

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

Select Potatoes, Vegetable Oils (processing marker) (Rapeseed Oil, Sunflower Oil), Potato Starch (processing marker), Potato Maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), Black Pepper, Yeast, Sugar (processing marker), Sea Salt (processing marker), Natural Sea Salt (processing marker), Acid (Citric Acid), Black Pepper Extract, Note (product may be fried in either of the oils listed and a blend may be used dependant on availability of supply)

Additives: E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Select Potatoes, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed Oil, Sunflower Oil)*, Potato Starch, Potato Maltodextrin, Crushed Black Pepper, Dried Yeast Extract, Sugar, Sea Salt, Natural Sea Salt, Acid: Citric Acid; Black Pepper Extract. *In varying proportions. Note: product may be fried in either of the oils listed or a blend may be used dependant on availability of supply. Gluten-Free.

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down 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.

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.
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 1,471 crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 625th. 64% of the crisps 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 1,471 crisps, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5017764004019, last edited 27 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.