Is Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese spread ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 17 ingredients
- 4 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed cheeses
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
pasteurized milk and cream, sugar (processing marker), strawberry puree, whey protein (ultra-processing marker), whey (ultra-processing marker), strawberries, salt (processing marker), modified food starch (ultra-processing marker), carob bean gum (ultra-processing marker), color added (ultra-processing marker), xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), guar gum (ultra-processing marker), natural flavor (ultra-processing marker), natamycin (a natural mold inhibitor (processing marker)), vitamin a palmitate, cheese culture
Additives: E235 Natamycin , E410 Locust bean gum , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum
As written on the pack
pasteurized milk and cream, sugar, strawberry puree, whey protein concentrate, whey, dried strawberries, salt, modified food starch, carob bean gum, color added, xanthan gum, guar gum, natural flavor, natamycin (a natural mold inhibitor), vitamin a palmitate, cheese culture
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.
- E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
- E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
- E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
- 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.
- Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
- 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.
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.
- Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
- Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
- 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.
Among 1,224 cheeses
From least to most processed, this one ranks 1192nd. 38% of the cheeses here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 02172701, last edited 17 April 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.