Is Walkers Salt & Vinegar French Fries ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- Colour
- Flavour enhancer
- Flavouring
- E160b Annatto
- E621 Monosodium glutamate
- E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide
- 16 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed crisps
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Potato, Potato Starch (processing marker), Sunflower Oil (processing marker), Salt and Vinegar Flavour (ultra-processing marker) (Flavouring, Salt (processing marker), Acids (Citric acid, Malic acid), Potassium Chloride, Flavour Enhancers (ultra-processing marker) (Monosodium glutamate (ultra-processing marker), Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides (ultra-processing marker))), Salt (processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Annatto norbixin (ultra-processing marker))
Additives: E160b Annatto , E160bii Annatto norbixin , E296 Malic acid , E330 Citric acid , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide
As written on the pack
Potato Granules, Potato Starch, Sunflower Oil, Salt & Vinegar Flavour [Flavouring, Salt, Acids (Citric acid, Malic acid), Potassium Chloride, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium glutamate, Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides)], Salt, Colour (Annatto norbixin). Allergy Advice May contain: Milk, Wheat, Gluten, Barley, Soya
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.
- E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
- 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.
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.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Among 1,471 crisps
From least to most processed, this one ranks 1282nd. 64% of the crisps here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 51000636, last edited 5 June 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.