Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Oxo Chicken stock cube low salt ultra-processed?

71g Poultry broth Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Oxo Chicken stock cube low salt

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 2 additives

Less processed poultry broth

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

wheat flour (with added calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), dried glucose syrup, flavour enhancer (monosodium glutamate), salt, sugar, yeast extract, flavourings, chicken fat 3%, potato starch, chicken 2%, colour (ammonia caramel), including cereals containing gluten

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E621 Monosodium glutamate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

wheat flour (with added calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), dried glucose syrup, flavour enhancer (monosodium glutamate), salt, sugar, yeast extract, flavourings, chicken fat (3%), potato starch, concentrated chicken extract (2%), colour (ammonia caramel), allergy advice: for allergens,including cereals containing gluten

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
  • 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.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 28 poultry broth

From least to most processed, this one ranks 28th. 71% of the poultry broth 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 28 poultry broth, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000354403330, last edited 11 April 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.