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Is M&S Colin the Caterpillar Fruit Sours ultra-processed?

170g Acid gummy candies Sold in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic

Pack of M&S Colin the Caterpillar Fruit Sours

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed candies

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

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Modified Potato Starch, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Acid (Malic Acid, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid), Flavourings, Acidity Regulator (Calcium Carbonate), Elderberry Juice from Concentrate, Fruit Concentrate (Red Grape, Apple, Lemon, Blackcurrant), Vegetable Concentrate (Carrot, Pumpkin), Plant Concentrates (Safflower), Spirulina

Additives: E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E270 Lactic acid , E296 Malic acid , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Modified Potato Starch, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Acid (Malic Acid, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid), Flavourings, Acidity Regulator (Calcium Carbonate), Elderberry Juice from Concentrate, Fruit Concentrate (Red Grape, Apple, Lemon, Blackcurrant), Vegetable Concentrate (Carrot, Pumpkin), Plant Concentrates (Safflower). Concentrated Spirulina.

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.

  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
4 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.

  • Candies Products in the category "Candies" are at least group 3.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 acid gummy candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 100% of the acid gummy candies 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 acid gummy candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00673358, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.