Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Lipton Green tea ultra-processed?

20 FL OZ Sweetened beverages Sold in the United States

Pack of Lipton Green tea

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:

  • 26 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed sweetened beverages

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

water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavor sooum hexametaphosphate (to protect flavor), pt) green tea, ascorbic acid (vitamin c), potassium sorbate (preserves freshness), phosphoric acid, sugar, acesulfame potassium, calcium disoium eota (to protect flavor), honey manufactured by independent prooucers for the pepsi, lipton teapartnership, purchase, ny 10577 clipton, a division of unilever, caffeine content (20 fl oz), www, liptontea, com, l

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E330 Citric acid , E338 Phosphoric acid , E950 Acesulfame k

As written on the pack

water,high fructose corn syrup,citric acid, natural flavor sooum hexametaphosphate (to protect flavor), pt) green tea, ascorbic acid (vitamin c), potassium sorbate (preserves freshness), phosphoric acid, sugar, acesulfame potassium, calcium disoium eota (to protect flavor), honey manufactured by independent prooucers for the pepsi/lipton teapartnership, purchase, ny 10577 clipton, a division of unilever, caffeine content: 26mg/20 fl oz, www,liptontea,com, l)

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.

  • E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.

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.

  • 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.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 548 sweetened beverages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 315th. 94% of the sweetened beverages 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 548 sweetened beverages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0012000012754, last edited 7 April 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.