Is Simply Nature Deluxe Shells & Aged Cheddar ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 20 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed macaroni and cheese
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
pasta (durum wheat semolina), water, cheddar cheese (processing marker) (milk, cheese culture (processing marker), salt (processing marker), enzymes (processing marker)), butter (processing marker), whey (ultra-processing marker), non-fat dry milk (processing marker), sodium phosphate, CONTAINS 2% and LESS OF (salt (processing marker)), natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), sodium alginate (ultra-processing marker), lactic acid, annatto (added for color (ultra-processing marker)), xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E401 Sodium alginate , E415 Xanthan gum
As written on the pack
ORGANIC PASTA, (ORGANIC DURUM WHEAT SEMOLINA), WATER, ORGANIC CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED ORGANIC MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), ORGANIC BUTTER, ORGANIC WHEY, ORGANIC NON-FAT DRY MILK, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT, ORGANIC NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM ALGINATE, LACTIC ACID, ORGANIC ANNATTO EXTRACT (ADDED FOR COLOR), XANTHAN GUM
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.
- E401 Sodium alginate A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
- E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
- 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.
- 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.
7 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.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- 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.
- Microbial culture Microbial cultures ferment foods such as yoghurt, cheese and sourdough.
- Enzyme Enzymes carry out traditional processes such as cheese making and baking.
Among 48 macaroni and cheese
From least to most processed, this one ranks 37th. 94% of the macaroni and cheese here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4061459562057, last edited 6 September 2025), 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.