Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Old El Paso Taco dinner kit ultra-processed?

8.8oz Biscuits Sold in the United States and Senegal

Pack of Old El Paso Taco dinner kit

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed biscuits

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

Limed Corn Flour, Palm Oil, Salt, Water, Tomato Paste, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, Distilled Vinegar, Chili Pepper, Sea Salt, Spice, Citric Acid, Garlic, Onion, Corn Starch, Chili Pepper, Maltodextrin, Salt, Spice, Onion, Vegetable Oil (canola, high oleic soybean, and sunflower oil), Silicon Dioxide (anticaking agent), Natural Flavor

Additives: E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Limed Corn Flour, Palm Oil, Salt, Water, Tomato Paste, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, Distilled Vinegar, Chili Pepper, Sea Salt, Spice, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Corn Starch, Chili Pepper, Maltodextrin, Salt, Spice, Onion Powder, Vegetable Oil (canola, high oleic soybean, and/or sunflower oil), Silicon Dioxide (anticaking agent), Natural Flavor.

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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
6 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.

  • Anti-caking agent Anti-caking agents are substances which reduce the tendency of individual particles of a foodstuff to adhere to one another.
  • 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.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 624th. 83% of the biscuits 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 1,514 biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0046000287355, last edited 9 July 2025), 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.