Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Stouffer's Mac & Cheese ultra-processed?

12 oz Frozen ready-made meals Sold in the United States

Pack of Stouffer's Mac & Cheese

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:

  • 36 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed frozen ready-made meals

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

Cheddar cheese sauce (skim milk), water, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color), cheddar club cheese (cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), water, salt, annatto color), wheat flour, margarine (soybean oil, water, vegetable mono- and diglycerides, salt, natural flavor, vitamin a palmitate added, vitamin d3), soybean oil, salt, potassium chloride, xanthan gum, yeast extract, lactic acid, calcium lactate, cooked pasta (water), semolina wheat flour, wheat gluten

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids.

As written on the pack

Cheddar cheese sauce: skim milk, water, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color), cheddar club cheese (cheddar cheese [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], water, salt, annatto color), bleached wheat flour, margarine (soybean oil, water, vegetable mono & diglycerides, salt, natural flavor, vitamin a palmitate added, vitamin d3), soybean oil, salt, potassium chloride, xanthan gum, yeast extract, lactic acid, calcium lactate. cooked pasta: water, semolina wheat flour, wheat gluten.

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.

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.

  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 84 frozen ready-made meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 66th. 69% of the frozen ready-made meals 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 84 frozen ready-made meals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0013800103406, last edited 6 July 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.