Is oat milk ultra-processed?
Usually group 4, and the additions are the reason.
Most of it is group 4, and this is one where the answer runs against the general impression of the category.
What is in a carton
Oats and water alone would be group 1 or 3. What is actually in most cartons is oats, water, rapeseed or sunflower oil, a stabiliser such as gellan gum, an acidity regulator, salt, and added calcium and vitamins. The oil is there for mouthfeel, the gum stops it separating, and the fortification exists because it is being sold as a milk substitute.
Each of those is a group 4 marker on its own. Added vitamins alone would do it, for the same reason fortified cereal is group 4.
What a group 3 version looks like
- Barista versions are almost always group 4: the whole point of them is added fat and stabilisers that behave under steam.
- Unsweetened, unfortified oat drinks with two or three ingredients exist and are group 3.
- Soya and almond follow exactly the same pattern, and for the same reasons.
- Cow's milk is group 1, which is a fact about processing and not an argument about anything else.
Working this out from a receipt is harder than from a packet, because a till prints about twenty characters of product name and no ingredients list. That is the problem Bagged exists to solve, and how a receipt is structured explains why it is the hard part.
Common questions
- Is almond milk ultra-processed?
- Usually, for the same reasons as oat: added oils, stabilisers and fortification. Check for gellan gum, added calcium and added vitamins.
- Is oat milk more processed than cow's milk?
- Under NOVA, typically yes. Plain milk is group 1 and most oat drinks are group 4. That is a statement about manufacturing and says nothing about anything else.
One photo of a receipt answers this for your own shopping.
Bagged reads every line and reports what share of your food spend was ultra-processed, and which items it was.
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