Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Walkers Wotsits ultra-processed?

36 g Potato crisps Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Walkers Wotsits

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:

  • 14 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed potato crisps

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

really cheesy flavour corn puffs ingredients (maize), rapeseed oil, cheese flavour (cheese (from milk), milk lactose, disodium 5'-ribonucleotide, lactic acid, paprika extract, annatto, natural flavourings, salt, potassium chloride)

Additives: E160b Annatto , E160c Paprika extract , E270 Lactic acid , E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide

As written on the pack

really cheesy flavour corn puffs ingredients: maize, rapeseed oil, cheese flavour [dried cheese (from milk ) (7%), milk lactose, flavour enhancer (disodium 5'-ribonucleotide), acid (lactic acid), colours (paprika extract, annatto), natural flavourings, salt, potassium chloride]

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.
  • 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.

  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 622 potato crisps

From least to most processed, this one ranks 535th. 66% of the potato crisps 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 622 potato crisps, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000328530055, last edited 25 August 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.