Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Kirkland Signature Extra-Crispy French Fries ultra-processed?

3 oz Frozen potato fries Sold in the United States

Pack of Kirkland Signature Extra-Crispy French Fries

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed frozen potato fries

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

Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola, palm, soybean, sunflower), corn, tapioca, rice flour, salt, dextrin, disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, xanthan gum, annatto

Additives: E1400 Dextrin , E160b Annatto , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola, palm, soybean, sunflower), modified food starch (corn, tapioca), rice flour, salt, dextrin, leavening (disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), xanthan gum, color (annatto).

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.

  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E160b Annatto Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • 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.
3 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 32 frozen potato fries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 25th. 81% of the frozen potato fries 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 32 frozen potato fries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0096619999699, last edited 3 October 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.