Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Seriously Strong Vintage Cheddar Spread ultra-processed?

Cow cheeses Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Seriously Strong Vintage Cheddar Spread

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cow cheeses

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

Vintage Cheddar Cheese, water, skimmed milk powder, butter, emulsifying salts (e331, e452, e450), milk proteins, thickener (pectin), preservative (potassium sorbate), ++Ouitable ++0, L

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E331 Sodium citrates , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates

As written on the pack

Vintage Cheddar Cheese (milk) (51%), water, skimmed milk powder, butter (milk), emulsifying salts (E331, E452, E450), milk proteins, thickener (pectin), preservative (potassium sorbate). ++Ouitable ++0. L

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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 250 cow cheeses

From least to most processed, this one ranks 244th. 22% of the cow cheeses 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 250 cow cheeses, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5017838819211, last edited 30 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.