Is it ultra-processed?
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Is White Bread ultra-processed?

Breads Sold in the United States and France

Pack of White Bread

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed 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

Enriched wheat flour (flour, malted barley flour, reduced iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin, folic acid), water, sugar, salt, potato flakes, yeast, wheat flour, grain vinegar, citric acid, soy lecithin

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, reduced iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin (vitamin b2), folic acid], water, sugar, salt, potato flakes, yeast, cultured wheat flour, grain vinegar, citric acid, soy lecithin.

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.

  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
2 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,388 breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1106th. 71% of the 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 2,388 breads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0078700016249, last edited 30 May 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.