Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is OXO Chicken Stock Cubes ultra-processed?

71 g Broths Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of OXO Chicken Stock Cubes

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:

  • 17 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed broths

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

ingredients (greatest first, Wheatflour), Salt, Dried Glucose Syrup, Flavour Enhancer (Monosodium Glutamate), Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Chicken Fat (chicken), Potato Starch, Sugar, Chicken 2%, Onion Extract, Colour (Ammonia Caramel)

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E621 Monosodium glutamate

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

As written on the pack

INGREDIENTS (GREATEST FIRST): Wheatflour, Salt, Dried Glucose Syrup, Flavour Enhancer (Monosodium Glutamate), Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Chicken Fat (chicken), Potato Starch, Sugar, Chicken Extract (2%), Onion Extract, Colour (Ammonia Caramel). Allergy Advice: contains wheat, 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 240 broths

From least to most processed, this one ranks 232nd. 70% of the broths 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 240 broths, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000175411118, last edited 4 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.
  • 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.