Is Trader Joe's Plain Bagels ultra-processed?

18 oz Bagel breads 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:

Dextrose
Glucose
Gluten

26 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed bagel breads

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

flour (wheat flour, malted barley, flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic, acid), water, sugar (processing marker), CONTAINS 2% and LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING, wheat gluten (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), mold inhibitor (dextrose (ultra-processing marker), wheat flour, monocalcium phosphate, wheat starch (processing marker)), yeast, distilled vinegar, enzymes (microbial), vegetable monoglycerides, sesame

Additives: E341 Calcium phosphates , E341i Monocalcium phosphate

As written on the pack

UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY, FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC, ACID), WATER, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:, WHEAT GLUTEN, SALT, MOLD INHIBITOR (CULTURED DEXTROSE, WHEAT FLOUR,, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, WHEAT STARCH), YEAST, DISTILLED VINEGAR, ENZYMES (MICROBIAL), VEGETABLE MONOGLYCERIDES, SESAME FLOUR

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.

3 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.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 91 bagel breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 61st. 79% of the bagel breads 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 91 bagel breads, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00145893, last edited 2 September 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.