Is Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil ultra-processed?

Virgin olive oils Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Emulsifier
Thickener
E322 Lecithins
E415 Xanthan gum

9 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score B

Less processed virgin olive oils

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

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 53%, Water, Alcohol, Emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (Sunflower Lecithin (ultra-processing marker)), Preservative (Citric Acid), Thickener (ultra-processing marker) (Xanthan Gum (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (53%), Water, Organic Alcohol, Emulsifier (Organic Sunflower Lecithin), Preservative (Citric Acid), Thickener (Xanthan Gum)

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.

E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 108 virgin olive oils

From least to most processed, this one ranks 108th. 4% of the virgin olive oils 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 108 virgin olive oils, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5038695460231, 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 B (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.