Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Pringles Elote ultra-processed?

5.5 oz Potato crisps Sold in the United States

Pack of Pringles Elote

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed potato crisps

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

potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and sunflower), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, salt, whey, monosodium glutamate, spices, citric acid, onion powder, corn syrup solids, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), natural and artificial flavor, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, blue cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), yellow lake, wheat starch

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

As written on the pack

Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and/or sunflower), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, mono - and diglycerides, salt, whey, monosodium glutamate, spices, citric acid, onion powder, corn syrup solids, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), natural and artificial flavor, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, blue cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), yellow lake, wheat starch.

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.

  • 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.
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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 622 potato crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 609th. 66% of the potato crisps 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 622 potato crisps, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0038000272264, last edited 6 August 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.