cheerios
Unknown brand
Processing
4
Ultra-processed
Group 4 of 4 on the NOVA scale
Additives listed
2
0 we grade moderate or higher
1 of them not yet assessed here
Nutrients
–
Nothing above the low band
Or no figures recorded at all
Three separate readings, kept apart on purpose. This is not a score, and none of it says this product is harmful.
Additives (2)
This label lists 2 colours.
E160A
Carotenes
Yellow to orange colour
What it is. The orange pigments found in carrots and other vegetables, either extracted or made synthetically.
Why it is used. Colours margarine, soft drinks, dairy, and sweets.
What the evidence says. The same compound the body turns into vitamin A, and safe at the levels used in food. High dose beta-carotene supplements have been linked to harm in smokers, but those doses are far above anything a colour in food delivers, and conflating the two is a common mistake.
Permitted. The supplement findings apply to concentrated doses, not to food colouring.
Assessed against EFSA, JECFA. Full entry for E160A
Also on the label, not assessed here yet
- E160B Annatto, bixin, norbixin colour
Names and jobs come from the register of additives permitted in Great Britain, which we have not finished transcribing: a code shown without a name is a gap in our coverage, not a finding that it is unapproved. Naming one is not grading it either. Full detail appears only where we have an assessment against a named authority, so all of this describes our coverage rather than these additives. Most are common and low concern.
Ingredients
whole grain oat flour (29.5%), whole grain wheat (29.5%), whole grain barley flour (17.8%), sugar, wheat starch, invert sugar syrup, whole grain maize flour (2.0%), whole grain rice flour (2.0%), sunflower oil, calcium carbonate, salt, molasses, caramelised sugar syrup, colours: annatto norbixin, carotene
As printed on the pack, in the producer's own order: ingredients are listed by weight, so what comes first is most of what is in it. E numbers link to their assessment where we have one.