Is Hershey's Syrup ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- Flavouring
- Glucose
- High fructose corn syrup
- Fructose
- E415 Xanthan gum
- E435 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate
- and 1 more
- 11 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed chocolate sauce
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
high fructose corn syrup (ultra-processing marker), corn syrup (ultra-processing marker), water, cocoa processed with alkali, sugar (processing marker), salt (processing marker), mono- and diglycerides (ultra-processing marker), xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), polysorbate 60 (ultra-processing marker), vanillin, artificial flavor (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E415 Xanthan gum , E435 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
As written on the pack
high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, cocoa processed with alkali, sugar, salt, mono - and diglycerides, xanthan gum, polysorbate 60, vanillin, artificial flavor,
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.
- E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
- E435 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate 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.
- E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
- 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.
- High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
- Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
3 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.
Among 16 chocolate sauce
From least to most processed, this one ranks 12th. 75% of the chocolate sauce here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 03418509, last edited 13 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.