Is Specially Selected Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper Hand Cooked Crisps ultra-processed?

150g Potato crisps in sunflower oil Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Maltodextrin

11 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score C

Less processed potato crisps in sunflower oil

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

potato, rapeseed oil, potato starch (processing marker), maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), sea salt (processing marker), black pepper, sugar (processing marker), yeast extract powder, acid (citric acid), natural flavourings (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

potato, rapeseed oil, potato starch, maltodextrin, sea salt, black pepper, sugar, yeast extract powder, acid: citric acid, natural flavourings

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.

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.

Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.

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.

Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
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 112 potato crisps in sunflower oil

From least to most processed, this one ranks 85th. 39% of the potato crisps in sunflower oil 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 112 potato crisps in sunflower oil, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600007885, last edited 20 March 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.