Is Balocco Panettone ultra-processed?

Panettone Sold in the United States, Bulgaria and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Glucose
Glucose syrup
Invert sugar
Fructose
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

19 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed festive foods

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

Wheat flour, raisins 19%, butter (processing marker), egg yolk, candied orange peels 8% (orange peels, glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), fructose (ultra-processing marker), sugar (processing marker), acidity corrector (citric acid)), sugar (processing marker), natural yeast (wheat), mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (ultra-processing marker), inverted sugar (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), skimmed milk, flavourings (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Wheat flour - raisins 19% - butter - egg yolk - candied orange peels 8% (orange peels - glucose syrup - fructose - sugar - acidity corrector: citric acid) - sugar - natural yeast (wheat) - emulsifiers: mono and diglycerides of fatty acids - inverted sugar - salt - dried skimmed milk - flavourings.

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.

E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
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.

Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.

4 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.

Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 8 panettone

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 88% of the panettone 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 8 panettone, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8001100050546, last edited 14 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.