Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Darrell Lea Australian Licorice Original ultra-processed?

200 grams Liquorice candies Sold in the United States

Pack of Darrell Lea Australian Licorice Original

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:

  • 14 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed liquorice candies

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 Glucose Syrup, Wheat Flour, Treacle, Molasses, Sugar, Water, Wheat Fiber, Sunflower Oil, Caramel Color, Licorice Extract 0.5%, Aniseed Oil, Salt, mono- and diglycerides, Carnauba Wax

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E903 Carnauba wax

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

As written on the pack

Wheat Glucose Syrup, Wheat Flour, Treacle, Molasses, Sugar, Water, Wheat Fiber, Sunflower Oil, Caramel Color, Licorice Extract (0.5%), Aniseed Oil, Salt, Mono - and diglycerides, Carnauba Wax.

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.

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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
5 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.

  • Candies Products in the category "Candies" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 13 liquorice candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 77% of the liquorice candies 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 13 liquorice candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0811737007503, last edited 21 September 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.