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Is Lay's Potato Chips Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored ultra-processed?

7.75 oz Potato crisps Sold in the United States

Pack of Lay's Potato Chips Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored

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:

  • 45 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed 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, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower, Corn, and Canola Oil), Cheddar, Sour Cream Seasoning (Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), Whev, Salt, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Onion Powder, Corn Oil, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil, Buttermilk, Sour Cream (Cultured Cream, Skim Milk), Butter (Cream, Salt), Sodium Caseinate, Yeast Extract, Lactose, Citric Acid, Skim Milk, Blue Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Lactic Acid, Paprika Extracts, Garlic Powder, Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Concentrate, Annatto, and Sunflower Oil), ingredients

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E270 Lactic acid , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower. Corn, and/or Canola Oil), Cheddar & Sour Cream Seasoning (Maltodextrin [Made From Corn], Whev. Salt, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt. Enzymes], Onion Powder, Corn Oil, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil, Buttermilk, Sour Cream [Cultured Cream, Skim Milk], Butter [Cream, Salt], Sodium Caseinate, Yeast Extract, Lactose, Citric Acid, Skim Milk, Blue Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Lactic Acid, Paprika Extracts, Garlic Powder, Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Concentrate, Annatto Extracts, and Sunflower Oil). CONTAINS MILK 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.
  • 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.

  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
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.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 622 potato crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 534th. 66% of the 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 622 potato crisps, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0028400199988, last edited 27 September 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.