Is Essential Waitrose Indian tonic water ultra-processed?

Tonic water 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:

Flavouring
Sweetener
E955 Sucralose

11 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed tonic water

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 spring water, Sugar (processing marker), acidity regulators (citric acid, sodium citrates), flavourings (ultra-processing marker) (including quinine hydrochloride), preservative (processing marker) (potassium sorbate (processing marker)), sweetener (ultra-processing marker) (sucralose (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E955 Sucralose

As written on the pack

Carbonated spring water, Sugar, acidity regulators (citric acid, sodium citrates), flavourings (including quinine hydrochloride), preservative (potassium sorbate), sweetener (sucralose)

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.

E955 Sucralose Sucralose is a sweetener made by chlorinating sugar.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

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.

E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Sodas Products in the category "Sodas" are at least group 3.
Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 24 tonic water

From least to most processed, this one ranks 18th. 75% of the tonic water 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 24 tonic water, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169009321, last edited 27 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.