Is Nerds Candy - Rainbow ultra-processed?

141g Candies Sold in the United Kingdom, the United States and 3 more countries

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
Dextrose
Flavouring
Glucose
E102 Tartrazine
E110 Sunset yellow FCF
and 5 more

16 ingredients
8 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

dextrose (ultra-processing marker), sugar (processing marker), malic acid, corn syrup (ultra-processing marker), natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), carnauba wax (ultra-processing marker), color added (ultra-processing marker), carmine color, blue 1 lake (ultra-processing marker), blue 1 (ultra-processing marker), blue 2 lake (ultra-processing marker), red 40 lake (ultra-processing marker), yellow 5 lake (ultra-processing marker), yellow 5 (ultra-processing marker), yellow 6 (ultra-processing marker), gum acacia (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E102 Tartrazine , E110 Sunset yellow FCF , E129 Allura red , E132 Indigotine , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E296 Malic acid , E414 Acacia gum , E903 Carnauba wax

As written on the pack

DEXTROSE, SUGAR, MALIC ACID, CORN SYRUP, NATURAL FLAVORS, CARNAUBA WAX, COLOR ADDED, CARMINE COLOR, BLUE 1 LAKE, BLUE 1, BLUE 2 LAKE, RED 40 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6, GUM ACACIA

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.

E102 Tartrazine Tartrazine is a synthetic yellow azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 5 in the US).
E110 Sunset yellow FCF Sunset yellow FCF is a synthetic orange azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 6 in the US).
E129 Allura red Allura red AC is a synthetic red azo dye (FD&C Red No. 40 in the US).
E132 Indigotine Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
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.

Show 3 more

E903 Carnauba wax Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of a Brazilian palm and gives sweets and coated chocolates their shine.
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.

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.

Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.

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.

Candies Products in the category "Candies" are at least group 3.
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 486 candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 416th. 96% of the 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 486 candies, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0079200558338, last edited 20 September 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.