Is Lucozade ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 20 ingredients
- 9 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed energy drinks
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Carbonated Water, Glucose Syrup (ultra-processing marker) 11%, Orange Juice from Concentrate 6%, Acid (Citric Acid), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Gluconate), Preservative (processing marker) (Potassium Sorbate (processing marker)), Sweeteners (ultra-processing marker) (Aspartame (ultra-processing marker), Acesulfame K (ultra-processing marker)), Stabiliser (Acacia Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Caffeine, Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Beta Carotene (ultra-processing marker))
Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E202 Potassium sorbate , E300 Ascorbic acid , E330 Citric acid , E414 Acacia gum , E576 Sodium gluconate , E950 Acesulfame k , E951 Aspartame
As written on the pack
Carbonated Water, Glucose Syrup (11%), Orange Juice from Concentrate (6%), Acid (Citric Acid), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Gluconate), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K), Stabiliser (Acacia Gum), Caffeine, Flavourings, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Colour (Beta Carotene)
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.
- E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
- E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
- E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
- E951 Aspartame Aspartame is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, used in diet drinks and sugar-free products.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
- Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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- Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.
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.
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.
- 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.
Among 33 energy drink with sugar
From least to most processed, this one ranks 24th. 97% of the energy drink with sugar here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054267000162, last edited 27 March 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.