Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Cup Noodles Soba Wok Style Yakitori Chicken ultra-processed?

Instant noodle soups Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Cup Noodles Soba Wok Style Yakitori Chicken

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:

  • 34 ingredients
  • 9 additives

Less processed instant noodle soups

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 12.2% (wheat flour, palm oil, salt, e621, e500, e451, regulator (citric acid), soybean, salt, wheat), rapeseed oil, sugar, dextrose, e621, e635, chicken fat anon powder, hydrolysed vegetable protein, flavourings, plain caramel, curcumin, paprika extract, modified starch, onion, chicken meat 1.1%, red bell pepper, green onion, best before end (see bottom), noodles di grano istantanei con salsa di pollo yakitori, ingredienti (noodles 12.2% farina, genti di trattamento della ala)

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E14XX Modified Starch , E150a Plain caramel , E160c Paprika extract , E330 Citric acid , E451 Triphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide

As written on the pack

noodles 12,2% (wheat flour, palm oil, salt, flavour enhancer e621, flour treatment agents (e500, e451) one regulator: citric acid], soybean, salt, wheat), rapeseed oil, sugar, dextrose, flavour enhancers (e621, e635), chicken fat anon powder, hydrolysed vegetable protein, flavourings, colours (plain caramel, curcumin and paprika extract), modified starch], onion, chicken meat 1,1%, red bell pepper, green onion, may contain traces of celery, crustacean, fish, milk, molluscs, mustard and sesame, best before end: see bottom, noodles di grano istantanei con salsa di pollo yakitori, ingredienti: noodles 12,2% farina [ genti di trattamento della ala

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.
  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
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  • E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 37 instant noodle soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 32nd. 95% of the instant noodle soups 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 37 instant noodle soups, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5997523315733, last edited 26 August 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.