Is it ultra-processed?
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Is McCain Crispy Sweet Potato Fries ultra-processed?

500 g Frozen fried potatoes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of McCain Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

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:

  • 19 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed frozen fried potatoes

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

sweet potato 90%, batter (maize flour, rice flour, modified maize starch, tapioca starch, salt, maize starch, tapioca dextrin, raising agent (e450), stabiliser (e415), turmeric extract, colour (e160 (c))), sunflower oil, prepared with sunflower oil

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E1400 Dextrin , E160 Carotenoids , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates

As written on the pack

sweet potato (90%), batter (maize flour, rice flour, modified maize starch, tapioca starch, salt, maize starch, tapioca dextrin, raising agent (e450), stabiliser (e415), turmeric extract, colour e160(c)) sunflower oil. prepared with sunflower oil

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.

  • E100 Curcumin 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.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E160 Carotenoids A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
3 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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 104 frozen fried potatoes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 95th. 80% of the frozen fried potatoes 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 104 frozen fried potatoes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010228002514, last edited 27 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.