Is Al'fez Lebanese Style Falafel ultra-processed?

150g Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
Flavouring
E100 Curcumin

38 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score A

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Chickpea Flour 54%, Breadcrumbs (WHEAT Flour (Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Salt (processing marker), Yeast), Seasoning 15% (WHEAT Flour, Raising Agent (Sodium Carbonates), Spices (Cumin, Cayenne, Black Pepper, Coriander, Fenugreek, Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamom), Onion, Rusk (processing marker), WHEAT Flour, Salt (processing marker), Raising Agent (Ammonium Carbonates), Garlic, Salt (processing marker), Natural Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Rice Flour, Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Curcumin (ultra-processing marker)), Yeast Extract Powder), Onion, Parsley 1%

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E500 Sodium carbonates , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

Chickpea Flour (54%), Breadcrumbs [WHEAT Flour (Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Salt, Yeast], Seasoning (15%) [WHEAT Flour, Raising Agent (Sodium Carbonates), Spices (Cumin, Cayenne, Black Pepper, Coriander, Fenugreek, Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamom), Onion, Rusk (WHEAT Flour, Salt, Raising Agent (Ammonium Carbonates), Garlic, Salt, Natural Flavourings, Rice Flour, Colour (Curcumin), Yeast Extract Powder], Onion, Parsley (1%).

What makes it ultra-processed

Cosmetic additives

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

2 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Bread An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010338300999, last edited 27 March 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.