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Is Mountain House Freeze Dried Pasta Primavera ultra-processed?

4.80 OZ (135g) Cereals and their products Sold in the United States

Pack of Mountain House Freeze Dried Pasta Primavera

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:

  • 40 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed cereals and their products

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

Precooked pasta (durum semolina, salt), zucchini, sweet cream, cauliflower, broccoli less than 2% of (red pepper), nonfat dry milk, yellow pepper, modified corn starch, seasoning (hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, dextrose, maltodextrin, whey powder, autolyzed yeast, natural flavor, onion, turmeric, soybean oil), green peas (peas, salt), parmesan cheese (part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), onion, butter (cream, natural flavor), sea salt, seasoning (yeast extract, safflower oil, natural flavor), spice, garlic

As written on the pack

Precooked pasta (durum semolina, salt), zucchini, sweet cream, cauliflower, broccoli less than 2% of: red pepper, nonfat dry milk, yellow pepper, modified corn starch, seasoning (hydrolyzed soy & corn protein, dextrose, maltodextrin, whey powder, autolyzed yeast, natural flavor, onion powder, turmeric, soybean oil), green peas (peas, salt), parmesan cheese (part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), onion powder, butter (cream, natural flavor), sea salt, seasoning (yeast extract, safflower oil, natural flavor), spice, granulated garlic

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.

  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.

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.
9 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
  • Microbial culture Microbial cultures ferment foods such as yoghurt, cheese and sourdough.
  • Enzyme Enzymes carry out traditional processes such as cheese making and baking.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 5,078 cereals and their products

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4685th. 57% of the cereals and their products 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 5,078 cereals and their products, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0041133531375, last edited 23 April 2020), 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.