Is Knudsen Cottage Cheese ultra-processed?

Fresh cheeses Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Modified starch
E412 Guar gum
E415 Xanthan gum

9 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed fresh cheeses

2% Low-Fat Classic Cottage Cheese Good Culture 8 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
4% Milkfat Classic Cottage Cheese good CULTURE 7 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
2% Low-Fat Classic Good Culture 8 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Probiotic Cottage Cheese Nancy's 7 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

cultured pasteurized grade a nonfat milk, milk and cream, modified food starch (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), calcium phosphate, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), guar gum (ultra-processing marker), acetic acid, vitamin d3

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

cultured pasteurized grade a nonfat milk, milk and cream, modified food starch, salt, calcium phosphate, xanthan gum, guar gum, acetic acid, vitamin d3

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.

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.
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.

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.

Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 91 fresh cheeses

From least to most processed, this one ranks 79th. 37% of the fresh cheeses 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 91 fresh cheeses, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0049900342728, last edited 6 June 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.