Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Quaker Instant Grits Butter Flavor ultra-processed?

9.8 oz Sold in the United States

Pack of Quaker Instant Grits Butter Flavor

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:

  • 34 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Degerminated white corn grits, salt, maltodextrin, sunflower oil, vegetable oil (palm kernel, palm oil), rice flour, calcium carbonate, whey, sodium caseinate, oat fiber, natural flavor, corn starch, mono- and diglycerides, soy lecithin, hydrogenated palm oil, annatto (color), nonfat milk, reduced iron, turmeric (color), niacinamide", BHT, citric acid (to preserve freshness), thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, beta carotene (color), folic acid, One of the B vitamins, ingredients

Additives: E160b Annatto , E321 Butylated hydroxytoluene , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Degerminated white corn grits, salt, maltodextrin, sunflower oil, vegetable oil (palm kernel and palm oil), rice flour, calcium carbonate, whey, sodium caseinate, oat fiber, natural flavor, corn starch, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, hydrogenated palm oil, annatto (color), nonfat milk, reduced iron, turmeric (color), niacinamide", BHT and citric acid (to preserve freshness), thiamin mononitrate*, riboflavin*, beta carotene (color), folic acid*. *One of the B vitamins. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY 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.

  • E160b Annatto Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • 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.

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.

  • Hydrogenated oil Hydrogenation turns liquid oil into a solid fat that resists going rancid.
  • 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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
3 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0030000568507, last edited 21 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.