Is Pringles Sweet & tangy bbq potato crisps, sweet & tangy bbq ultra-processed?

Stacked extruded potato crisps Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Maltodextrin
Whey
E129 Allura red
E150c Ammonia caramel
E160c Paprika extract
and 3 more

34 ingredients
9 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed stacked extruded potato crisps

Classic Original Potato Crisps The Good Crisp Company 7 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Sour Cream & Onion Potato Crisps The Good Crisp Company 19 ingredients · 2 additives NOVA group 3

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 (processing marker) (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and sunflower oil), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch (processing marker), rice flour, maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), mono, and diglycerides, contains 2% and less of sugar, salt (processing marker), sodium diacetate, brown sugar (processing marker), tomato, onion, molasses (processing marker), spices, monosodium glutamate (ultra-processing marker), natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), yeast, caramel color, citric acid, paprika color (ultra-processing marker), paprika color (ultra-processing marker), garlic, disodium inosinate (ultra-processing marker), disodium guanylate (ultra-processing marker), whey (ultra-processing marker), red 40 lake (ultra-processing marker), wheat starch (processing marker), ingredients

Additives: E129 Allura red , E150c Ammonia caramel , E160c Paprika extract , E262 Sodium acetates , E262ii Sodium diacetate , E330 Citric acid , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

dried potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and/or sunflower oil), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, mono – and diglycerides, contains 2% or less of sugar, salt, sodium diacetate, brown sugar, tomato powder, onion powder, molasses, spices, monosodium glutamate, natural flavors, dried yeast, caramel color, citric acid, paprika color, paprika extract color, garlic powder, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, whey, red 40 lake, wheat starch. 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.

E129 Allura red Allura red AC is a synthetic red azo dye (FD&C Red No. 40 in the US).
E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.

Show 1 more

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

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.
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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 48 stacked extruded potato crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 24th. 96% of the stacked extruded 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 48 stacked extruded potato crisps, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0038000197840, last edited 25 March 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.