Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Hearty Food Co. Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles ultra-processed?

100g Instant noodles Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Hearty Food Co. Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles

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:

  • 19 ingredients
  • 1 additive

Less processed instant noodles

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 Flour, Palm Oil, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Sugar, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Wheat Flour, Carrot, Onion, Flavourings, Yeast Extract, Garlic, Ginger, White Pepper, Turmeric, Parsley, Cumin, Turmeric Extract)

Additives: E100 Curcumin

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Seasoning [Maltodextrin, Sugar, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Wheat Flour, Carrot, Onion, Flavourings, Yeast Extract, Garlic, Ginger, White Pepper, Turmeric, Parsley, Cumin, Turmeric Extract].

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.
  • 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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down 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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 242 instant noodles

From least to most processed, this one ranks 48th. 93% of the instant noodles 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 242 instant noodles, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697718687, last edited 3 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.