Is Barr Irn bru 1901 ultra-processed?

750 ml Carbonated fruit soft drink 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
E110 Sunset yellow FCF
E124 Ponceau 4r

14 ingredients
5 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed carbonated fruit soft drink

Boisson petillante Belvoir Fleur de Surea Belvoir Fruit Farms 5 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Lemonaid+ Blood Orange Lemonaid 8 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Elderflower Lemonade Cawston Press 6 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Sparking wild elderflower pressé 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

Carbonated Water, Sugar (processing marker), Acid (Citric Acid), Flavourings (ultra-processing marker) (including Ammonium Ferric Citrate, Quinine), Preservative (processing marker) (e211), Foaming Agent (Quillaia Extract), Colours (ultra-processing marker) (Sunset Yellow FCF (ultra-processing marker), Ponceau 4R (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E110 Sunset yellow FCF , E124 Ponceau 4r , E211 Sodium benzoate , E330 Citric acid , E999 Quillaia extract

As written on the pack

Carbonated Water, Sugar, Acid (Citric Acid), Flavourings (including Ammonium Ferric Citrate & Quinine), Preservative (E211), Foaming Agent (Quillaia Extract), Colours (Sunset Yellow FCF, Ponceau 4R)

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.

E110 Sunset yellow FCF Sunset yellow FCF is a synthetic orange azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 6 in the US).
E124 Ponceau 4r 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.

Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 45 carbonated fruit soft drink

From least to most processed, this one ranks 27th. 84% of the carbonated fruit soft drink 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 45 carbonated fruit soft drink, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000382109549, last edited 2 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.