Is Nescafe Instant coffee beverage. Caramel flavour ultra-processed?

8 x 17g Instant coffees Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Glucose
Glucose syrup
Lactose

12 ingredients
3 additives

Less processed instant coffees

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 (processing marker), skimmed milk powder (processing marker) 21.5%, glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), coconut oil (processing marker), coffee 7.6% (instant coffee 7%, roast and ground coffee), lactose (ultra-processing marker), natural flavourings (ultra-processing marker), sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, salt (processing marker)

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

sugar, skimmed milk powder 21,5%, glucose syrup, coconut oil, coffee 7,6%, (instant coffee 7%, roast and ground coffee), lactose (milk), natural flavourings, acidity regulators (sodium bicarbonate, citric acid), salt

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.

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.

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.
Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 86 instant coffees

From least to most processed, this one ranks 73rd. 29% of the instant coffees 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 86 instant coffees, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7613034309563, last edited 13 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.