Is Trader Joe's Organic Ranch Dressing ultra-processed?

Salad dressings Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

E415 Xanthan gum

14 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed salad dressings

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

Water, soybean oil (processing marker), cane sugar (processing marker), distilled vinegar, egg yolk, buttermilk powder, nonfat milk powder (processing marker), salt (processing marker), less than 2% (garlic), lactic acid, onion, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), garlic

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Water, organic soybean oil, organic cane sugar, organic distilled vinegar, organic egg yolk, organic buttermilk powder, organic nonfat milk powder), salt, less than 2%: organic garlic powder, lactic acid, organic onion powder, xanthan gum, organic garlic

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
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 252 salad dressings

From least to most processed, this one ranks 71st. 85% of the salad dressings 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 252 salad dressings, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00560511, last edited 20 January 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.