[fjkdlsjflkds]

> Pardon, but where's the ultra processing? Isn't pea protein just dried peas in a blender?

Obviously not. Protein meal contains 20 to 25% protein, while pea protein concentrates/isolates have more than 80% protein. For more information on the process required to reach such high levels of protein, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea_protein

> I figured ultra processed was reserved for things like ascorbic acid, pectin, and xanthan gum.

You could have chosen better examples. All those three things are naturally occurring in non-processed foods, two of them are not even digestible by humans (both pectin and xanthan gum are technically "soluble fiber"), and the other one is a water-soluble vitamin (i.e., good luck overdosing or suffering from chronic exposure from that).

[adammarples]

Yes, pretty much. They're made by a process called fractionation which is basically a mill (a blender if you like) and then clever air classification and centrifuge so that the constituent parts get separated by weight.

[fjkdlsjflkds]

Yup, for pea protein concentrates obtained by dry fractionation (arguably a slighly more complicated processing process than "just dried peas in a blender").