Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Coca-Cola ultra-processed?

2 L Colas Sold in Canada

Pack of Coca-Cola

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:

  • 7 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed colas

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, glucose-fructose, Caramel colour, Phosphoric acid, Natural flavour, Caffeine

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E338 Phosphoric acid

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Carbonated water, Sugar/glucose-fructose, Caramel colour, Phosphoric acid, Natural flavour, Caffeine

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • Sodas Products in the category "Sodas" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 142 colas

From least to most processed, this one ranks 53rd. 99% of the colas 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 142 colas, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 06742708, last edited 16 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.