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Is Quaker Instant Oatmeal Dinosaur Eggs Brown Sugar ultra-processed?

14.1 oz, 8x 1.76 oz packets Porridge Sold in the United States

Pack of Quaker Instant Oatmeal Dinosaur Eggs Brown Sugar

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:

  • 36 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed porridge

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

oats, dinosaur egg shaped pieces (sugar, dextrose, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, annatto (color), carnauba wax, confectioner's glaze, corn maltodextrin, magnesium stearate, modified corn starch, natural flavor, red radish (color), spirulina extract (color), sunflower lecithin, turmeric (color)), sugar, salt, natural flavor, calcium carbonate, carob, molasses, reduced iron, niacinamide, folic acid, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate

Additives: E160b Annatto , E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E572 Magnesium stearate , E903 Carnauba wax

As written on the pack

Whole grain oats, dinosaur egg shaped pieces (sugar, dextrose, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, annatto [color], carnauba wax, confectioner's glaze, corn maltodextrin, magnesium stearate, modified corn starch, natural flavor, red radish juice [color], spirulina extract [color], sunflower lecithin, turmeric [color]), sugar, salt, natural flavor, calcium carbonate, carob powder, molasses, reduced iron, niacinamide, folic acid, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate.

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.
  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • 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.
  • E903 Carnauba wax Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of a Brazilian palm and gives sweets and coated chocolates their shine.
  • 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.
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  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 160 porridge

From least to most processed, this one ranks 160th. 57% of the porridge 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 160 porridge, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0030000262917, last edited 20 May 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.