Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Lay's Baked Barbecue Potato Crisps ultra-processed?

1 oz Flavoured potato crisps Sold in the United States

Pack of Lay's Baked Barbecue Potato Crisps

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed flavoured potato crisps

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, Olive Oil, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Onion, Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), Dextrose, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Spices, Fructose, Tomato, Garlic, Yeast, Natural Flavors, Paprika, Acacia Gum, Paprika Extracts, Annatto, ingredients

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E414 Acacia gum

As written on the pack

Dried Potatoes, Olive Oil, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Onion Powder, Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), Dextrose, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Spices, Fructose, Tomato Powder, Garlic Powder, Yeast, Natural Flavors (Contains Milk), Paprika, Acacia Gum, Paprika Extracts, Annatto Extracts. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY INGREDIENTS.

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.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 191 flavoured potato crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 188th. 95% of the flavoured potato crisps 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 191 flavoured potato crisps, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0028400071895, last edited 31 May 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.