Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Kirkland All Butter Pound Cake ultra-processed?

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Pack of Kirkland All Butter Pound Cake

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:

  • 40 ingredients
  • 15 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

sugar, flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), eggs, butter (cream, milk, salt), water, modified corn starch, soybean oil, palm oil, whey, propylene glycol esters of fatty acids, mono, diglycerides, distilled monoglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, soy lecithin, citric acid, wheat gluten, sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, salt, egg whites, nonfat dry milk, natural, artificial flavors, sodium caseinate, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, soy flour

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E341 Calcium phosphates , E341i Monocalcium phosphate , E410 Locust bean gum , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E477 Propane-1‚2-diol esters of fatty acids , E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E541 Sodium aluminium phosphate

As written on the pack

sugar, bleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), eggs, butter (cream and/or milk, salt), water, modified corn starch, soybean oil, palm oil, whey, emulsifiers (propylene glycol esters of fatty acids, mono - , diglycerides, distilled monoglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, soy lecithin, citric acid), wheat gluten, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), salt, egg whites, nonfat dry milk, natural , artificial flavors, sodium caseinate, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, soy flour

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.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E477 Propane-1‚2-diol esters of fatty acids 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.
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  • E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 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.
  • 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.

  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
6 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 17931939, last edited 16 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.