Is Kraft Kd original macaroni and cheese ultra-processed?

225 g Pots Sold in Canada and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Whey
E160b Annatto

14 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed pots

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

Pasta (wheat), Cheese Sauce (processing marker) (whey powder (ultra-processing marker), cheddar cheese (processing marker), salt (processing marker), butter (processing marker), paprika, turmeric, annatto (ultra-processing marker), natural flavours (ultra-processing marker), citric acid (acidulant), sodium phosphate)

Additives: E160b Annatto , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Pasta (wheat), Cheese Sauce (whey powder, cheddar cheese, salt, butter, paprika, turmeric, annatto, natural flavours, citric acid [acidulant], sodium phosphate) Contains: Milk, Wheat.

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.

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.
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.

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.

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.

Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.
Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 9 pots

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 33% of the pots 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 9 pots, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0068100058611, last edited 17 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.