Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Kroger Small Curd Cottage Cheese Low Fat ultra-processed?

113 g Sold in the United States

Pack of Kroger Small Curd Cottage Cheese Low Fat

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:

  • 13 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

cultured skin milk, cultured cream, whey, salt, maltodextrin, citric acid, carraceenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, dextrose, sorbic acid (to maintain freshness), vitamin a palmitate

Additives: E200 Sorbic acid , E330 Citric acid , E410 Locust bean gum , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

CULTURED SKIN MILK, CULTURED CREAM, WHEY, SALT, MALTODEXTRIN, CITRIC ACID, CARRACEENAN, GUAR GUM, LOCUST BEAN GUM, CULTURED DEXTROSE, SORBIC ACID (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS), VITAMIN A PALMITATE.

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.

  • 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.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • 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.
2 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.

  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0011110450456, last edited 23 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.