Is Walkers Baked Wotsits 12 Really Cheesy flavour corn puffs ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 22 ingredients
- 5 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed puffed salty snacks made from maize
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Corn (Maize), Rapeseed Oil, Cheese Flavour (ultra-processing marker) (Whey Permeate (ultra-processing marker), Cheese (processing marker) (from Milk), Salt (processing marker), Cheese (processing marker) (from Milk), Dairy (from Milk), Yeast Extract, Potassium Chloride, Acid (Lactic acid), Flavour Enhancer (ultra-processing marker) (Disodium 5-ribonucleotides (ultra-processing marker)), Colours (ultra-processing marker) (Paprika extract (ultra-processing marker), Annatto norbixin (ultra-processing marker)), Natural Flavouring)
Additives: E160b Annatto , E160bii Annatto norbixin , E160c Paprika extract , E270 Lactic acid , E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide
As written on the pack
Corn (Maize), Rapeseed Oil, Cheese Flavour (Whey Permeate (contains Milk), Dried Cheese 6% (from Milk), Salt, Cheese Solids (from Milk), Dairy Solids (from Milk), Yeast Extract, Potassium Chloride, Acid (Lactic acid), Flavour Enhancer (Disodium 5-ribonucleotides), Colours (Paprika extract, Annatto norbixin), Natural Flavouring (contains Milk)).
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.
- E160b Annatto Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
- E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
- E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
- Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
- 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.
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.
Among 21 puffed salty snacks made from maize
From least to most processed, this one ranks 18th. 86% of the puffed salty snacks made from maize here are ultra-processed.
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Crunchy
Cheetos · 1 oz (28.3 g)
NOVA group
4
-
Cheez Cruncherz - Flaming Hot
OLW · 225 g
NOVA group
4
-
Cheese Puffs
Snackrite · 150g
NOVA group
4
-
Cheese Puffs
Aldi · 10 x 18 g
NOVA group
4
All 21 puffed salty snacks made from maize, least processed first
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000328288529, last edited 27 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.