Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sargento Cheese Bakes Parmesan & Oregano ultra-processed?

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Pack of Sargento Cheese Bakes Parmesan & Oregano

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

parmesan cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt enzymes), wheat flour, cornstarch, canola oil, oat fiber, whey, sugar, buttermilk, whey protein, salt, yeast, cultured cream, spice (including oregano), soy lecithin, onion, baking soda, garlic, protein, srice extract dried

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

PARMESAN CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT ENZYMES), WHEAT FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, CANOLA OIL, OAT FIBER, WHEY, SUGAR, BUTTERMILK, CULTURED WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SALT, YEAST, CULTURED CREAM, SPICE (INCLUDING OREGANO), SOY LECITHIN, ONION, BAKING SODA, GARLIC, PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SRICE EXTRACT DRIED

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.

  • 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.

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.
  • 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.
4 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0044000082154, last edited 26 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.