Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Al'fez Moroccan Spiced Couscous ultra-processed?

200g Prepared couscous Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Al'fez Moroccan Spiced Couscous

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 45 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed prepared couscous

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

couscous 85% (durum wheat), sultanas 5%, seasoning (sugar, dextrose, spices (cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper), salt, onion powder, rusk, wheat flour (calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), salt, ammonium carbonates), garlic powder, yeast extract powder, natural flavourings, mint, turmeric extract, curcumin, vegetable bouillon (salt, potato starch, yeast extract, sugar, rapeseed oil, onion powder, citric acid, nutmeg, black pepper extract, onion extract, parsley, leek, lovage root), pine nuts 2%, parsley, including cereals containing gluten

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E330 Citric acid , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

couscous (85%) (durum wheat), sultanas (5%), seasoning [sugar, dextrose, ground spices (cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper), salt, onion powder, rusk [wheat flour (calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), salt, raising agent (ammonium carbonates)], garlic powder, yeast extract powder, natural flavourings, mint, turmeric extract, colour (curcumin)], vegetable bouillon [salt, potato starch, yeast extract, sugar, rapeseed oil, onion powder, acid (citric acid), nutmeg extract, black pepper extract, onion extract, parsley, leek extract, lovage root extract], pine nuts (2%), parsley. allergy advice: for allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold. may also contain peanuts, nuts, milk and soya.

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.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

Substances rarely used in home kitchens

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
5 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Bread An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 prepared couscous

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 69% of the prepared couscous here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 16 prepared couscous, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010338300982, last edited 25 September 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.