Miele finally published the list of ingredients in their UltraWhite powder detergent that is sold in the USA as they are required to do by the California Cleaning Products Right to Know Act. Disappointingly the USA formulation is very different than the formula sold under the same name in Europe.
Without parsing the ingredient differences in excessive detail, it suffices to say that apart from the generous amounts of sodium carbonate peroxide and TAED activator they are completely unrelated formulations.
The by far most important difference, however, is in the enzyme compliment. The USA version has ONLY TWO ENZYMES:
1) subtilisin for protein stains
2) amylase for starch stains
The European version, meanwhile, has SIX ENZYMES:
1) subtilisin for protein stains
2) amylase for starch stains
3) mannanase for carbohydrate stains
4) lipase for fat stains
5) pectate lyase for fruit stains
6) cellulase for pilling prevention and color protection
I know that American washing cycles are typically shorter which are less suited to enzymatic cleaning, but at $35 per box I think it is reasonable to expect the best formulation. Further, many North American users of Miele UltraWhite will be using Miele machines with suitably long cycles for effective enzymatic cleaning. And while Miele didn't explicitly advertise the USA and European products as identical it was certainly implied and it feels duplicitous to sell such a cut-rate formula in the US under the same name. I am very disappointed in Miele USA.
Unfortunately they have not yet posted, in penalizable violation of California law, the ingredients for the US versions of UltraPhase 1, UltraDark, or UltraColor so we cannot see if those also lack the full compliment of enzymes or have other undesirable changes.
Link to US ingredients PDF:
media.miele.com/downloads/5e/fa/...
Link to European ingredients:
media.miele.com/downloads/40/61/...