Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Pearl Milling Company Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix ultra-processed?

32oz Pancake mixes Sold in the United States

Pack of Pearl Milling Company Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix

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:

  • 25 ingredients
  • 10 additives

Less processed pancake mixes

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

flour (wheat flour, niacinamide, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, dextrose, buttermilk, palm oil, salt, wheat gluten, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, lactic acid, tocopherols (to preserve freshness, 530-l02-37), ingredients

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E340 Potassium phosphates , E340ii Dipotassium phosphate , E341 Calcium phosphates , E341i Monocalcium phosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E541 Sodium aluminium phosphate

As written on the pack

enriched bleached flour (bleached wheat flour, niacinamide, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), dextrose, buttermilk powder, palm oil, salt, wheat gluten, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, lactic acid, tocopherols (to preserve freshness). (530-l02-37) contains milk and wheat 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.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
2 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 43 pancake mixes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 40th. 79% of the pancake mixes 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 43 pancake mixes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0030000653005, last edited 3 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.