Is Cheesecake Instant Pudding & Pie Filling Keto?

The Ingredient Breakdown

As a food scientist, looking at the ingredient label for Cheesecake Instant Pudding & Pie Filling tells a clear story: this is a product designed for sweetness and texture, not metabolic health. The very first ingredient listed is SUGAR. In food labeling, ingredients are listed by weight, meaning sugar is the primary component of the mix by volume. For a ketogenic diet, which strictly limits carbohydrate intake (usually under 20-50g per day), starting a recipe with pure sugar is an immediate disqualifier.

The second major red flag is MODIFIED CORNSTARCH. This is the thickening agent that gives the pudding its structure once mixed with milk. Cornstarch is a carbohydrate derived from corn; it is essentially pure glucose chains. While it provides the desired mouthfeel, it contributes a significant amount of net carbs to the final product. Even a small serving of this pudding contains far too many carbs to fit into a daily keto macro allowance.

Finally, we must look at the additives. The product contains DISODIUM PHOSPHATE and TETRASODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE. These are chemical salts used to ensure the pudding sets quickly and maintains stability in the box. While they are generally recognized as safe, they are often found in processed foods that lack nutritional density. The presence of ARTIFICIAL COLOR (Yellow 5 and Yellow 6) and ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR further cements this product's status as a highly processed food item rather than a whole-food ingredient.

Nutritional Value

From a nutritional standpoint, this product is a 'caloric dense, nutrient poor' food. A standard serving of prepared cheesecake pudding (using 2% milk) contains roughly 130 to 150 calories, almost entirely derived from carbohydrates. You will find very little to no dietary fiber, and the fat content is negligible unless you prepare it with heavy cream, which adds its own separate macro profile.

The sugar content is the dealbreaker for keto. A single serving can contain upwards of 15g to 20g of sugar. When you consume this, your blood glucose levels will spike, triggering an insulin response. This halts the production of ketones, effectively ending the state of ketosis. Furthermore, because the product lacks fat and protein, it does not provide satiety, leading to the 'sugar crash' and hunger pangs that keto dieters strive to avoid.