Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Lay's Baked Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips ultra-processed?

Crisps made from reconstituted potato Sold in the United States

Pack of Lay's Baked Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed crisps made from reconstituted potato

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, Corn Starch, Corn Oil, Sugar, Maltodextrin (Made from Corn), and less than 2% of Salt, Soy Lecithin, Dextrose, Malic Acid, Distilled Vinegar, Yeast Extract, Potassium Salt, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, and Annatto

Additives: E296 Malic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Dried Potatoes, Corn Starch, Corn Oil, Sugar, Maltodextrin (Made from Corn), and less than 2% of Salt, Soy Lecithin, Dextrose, Malic Acid, Distilled Vinegar, Yeast Extract, Potassium Salt, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, and Annatto Extracts

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
4 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.
  • 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 19 crisps made from reconstituted potato

From least to most processed, this one ranks 11th. 89% of the crisps made from reconstituted potato 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 19 crisps made from reconstituted potato, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0028400743884, 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.