Is Seriously Original ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 13 ingredients
- 5 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed cheeses
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Cheddar Cheese (processing marker), water, skimmed milk powder (processing marker), butter (processing marker), emulsifying salts (e331, e452 (ultra-processing marker), e450 (ultra-processing marker)), milk proteins (ultra-processing marker), thickener (ultra-processing marker) (pectin (ultra-processing marker)), preservative (processing marker) (potassium sorbate (processing marker))
Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E331 Sodium citrates , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates
As written on the pack
Cheddar Cheese (milk) (54%), water, skimmed milk powder, butter (milk), emulsifying salts (E331, E452, E450), milk proteins, thickener (pectin), preservative (potassium sorbate).
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.
- E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
- E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
- E452 Polyphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
- Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
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.
6 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.
- E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
- Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
- Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.
Among 1,223 cheeses
From least to most processed, this one ranks 1137th. 38% of the cheeses here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5017838811314, last edited 12 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.