Is Knorr Carbonara with cheese and bacon ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 28 ingredients
- 1 additive
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed carbonara-style pasta
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Pasta 70% (durumvetemjöl, vetemjöl), rismjöl, ostpulver (processing marker) 5.2% (OST, vasslepulver (ultra-processing marker)), solrosolja (processing marker), palmfett, joderat salt (processing marker), bacon 1.3% (griskött, salt (processing marker), stabilisator (natriumnitrit (processing marker))), jästextrakt, socker (processing marker), mjölksocker (ultra-processing marker), mjölkprotein (ultra-processing marker), örter (persilja, gräslök), glukossirap (ultra-processing marker), kryddor (bland annat vitlök), salt (processing marker), stärkelse (processing marker), aromer (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite
As written on the pack
Pasta 70% (DURUMVETEMJÖL, VETEMJÖL), rismjöl, OSTPULVER 5,2% (OST, vasslepulver (MJÖLK)), solrosolja, palmfett, joderat salt, bacon 1,3 % (rökt griskött, salt, stabilisator (natriumnitrit)), jästextrakt, socker, MJÖLKSOCKER, MJÖLKPROTEIN, örter (persilja, gräslök), glukossirap, kryddor (bl.a. vitlök'), salt, stärkelse, aromer (innehåller MJÖLK).
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.
- Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
- Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
- 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.
7 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.
- E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" 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.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
Among 11 carbonara-style pasta
From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 55% of the carbonara-style pasta here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8720182406651, last edited 2 April 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.