Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Halls Soothers Blackcurrant ultra-processed?

45 g Berries Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

Pack of Halls Soothers Blackcurrant

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed berries

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

Sugar, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, water, glycerol, lactic acid, citric acid, blackcurrant 0.4%, e325, e332, flavourings, concentrated black carrot juice, vegetable carbon, sunflower lecithin, Equivalent to 2.1% fruit juice

Additives: E153 Vegetable carbon , E270 Lactic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E325 Sodium lactate , E330 Citric acid , E332 Potassium citrates , E422 Glycerol

As written on the pack

Sugar, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, water, stabiliser (glycerol), acids (lactic acid, citric acid), concentrated blackcurrant juice (0.4%)*, acidity regulators (E325, E332), flavourings, concentrated black carrot juice, colour (vegetable carbon), emulsifier (sunflower lecithin). *Equivalent to 2.1% fruit juice.

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.

  • E153 Vegetable carbon A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E325 Sodium lactate Antioxidants are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by oxidation, such as fat rancidity and colour changes.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
  • Glucose syrup 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.

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

How the NOVA groups work

Among 112 berries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 112th. 8% of the berries 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 112 berries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010455063142, last edited 31 July 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.