Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Bramwells Express Chicken flavour noodle bowl ultra-processed?

85 g Instant noodles Sold in Ireland

Pack of Bramwells Express Chicken flavour noodle bowl

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:

  • 33 ingredients
  • 6 additives

Less processed instant noodles

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

noodles 87% (Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Thickener (Modified Potato Starch), lodised Salt (Sodium Chloride, Potassium lodate), Sugar, Stabiliser (Guar Gum), Garlic, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Carbonate)), Seasoning (Salt, Maltodextrin, Flavouring, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate), Disodium 5'-Ribonucleotides, Sugar, Yeast Extract, Soy Sauce, Onion, Garlic, Turmeric Powder, White Pepper, Turmeric Extract), Vegetable seasoning (Dried Carrot, Dried Onions), Chilli

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E412 Guar gum , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500i Sodium carbonate , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide

As written on the pack

NOODLES (87%) [Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Thickener: Modified Potato Starch; lodised Salt (Sodium Chloride, Potassium lodate), Sugar, Stabiliser: Guar Gum; Garlic Powder, Acidity Regulator: Sodium Carbonate], Seasoning (Salt, Maltodextrin, Flavouring, Flavour Enhancers: Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium 5'-Ribonucleotides; Sugar, Yeast Extract, Soy Sauce Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Turmeric Powder, Ground White Pepper, Turmeric Extract), Vegetable seasoning (Dried Carrot, Dried Onions), Chilli Powder.

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.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
  • E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down 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.

  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 242 instant noodles

From least to most processed, this one ranks 188th. 93% of the instant noodles 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 242 instant noodles, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4061464935198, last edited 2 April 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.