Is Asda Dried Apricots ultra-processed?

200g Dried apricots Sold in the United Kingdom

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

Preservative
E202 Potassium sorbate

8 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed dried apricots

Crazy Jack Organic Soft Dried Apricots 200g Crazy Jack 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Soft dried apricots Sainsbury's 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Duchy Organic Dried Apricots Waitrose & Partners 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Organic dried apricots Waitrose 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1

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

Dried Apricots 90%, Water, Preservatives (processing marker) (Sulphur Dioxide, Potassium Sorbate (processing marker)), Acidity Regulators (Malic Acid, Citric Acid)

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E220 Sulphur dioxide , E296 Malic acid , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Dried Apricots (90%), Water, Preservatives (Sulphur Dioxide, Potassium Sorbate), Acidity Regulators (Malic Acid, Citric Acid).

What makes it processed

Preservation and traditional processing

Keep food safe or ferment it, like preservatives and cultures. A sign of processing, not ultra-processing.

E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 33 dried apricots

From least to most processed, this one ranks 31st. 6% of the dried apricots 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 33 dried apricots, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057172859849, last edited 9 May 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.