Is Lidl Apricot jam ultra-processed?

Apricot jams Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gelling agent
Glucose
Fructose
E440 Pectins

9 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed fruit jams

Organic Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves Trader Joe's 5 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Tawny Orange Thick Cut Marmalade Wilkin & Sons Ltd. 2 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Gunillas Apelsinmarmelad Önos 4 ingredients · 2 additives NOVA group 3
Ekologisk Hjortronsylt Torfolk Gård 4 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

Apricots, Glucose-Fructose Syrup (ultra-processing marker), Sugar (processing marker), Acid (Citric Acid), Gelling Agent (ultra-processing marker) (Pectins (ultra-processing marker)), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrates)

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Apricots, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Acid: Citric Acid; Gelling Agent: Pectins; Acidity Regulator: Sodium Citrates.

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.

E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.

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.
Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.

1 ingredient 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 apricot jams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 16th. 94% of the apricot jams 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 16 apricot jams, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 20917883, last edited 27 November 2023), 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.