Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Panda Soft Liquorice ultra-processed?

170 g Liquorice candies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Panda Soft Liquorice

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:

  • 10 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed liquorice 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

Sugar, Wheat Flour, Molasses, Sugar Syrup, Glucose Syrup, Liquorice Extract, Colour (Vegetable Carbon), Flavouring (Aniseed Oil)

Additives: E153 Vegetable carbon

As written on the pack

Sugar, Wheat Flour, Molasses, Sugar Syrup, Glucose Syrup, Liquorice Extract, Colour: Vegetable Carbon, Flavouring: Aniseed Oil

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.

  • E153 Vegetable carbon A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 13 liquorice candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 6th. 77% of the liquorice 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 13 liquorice candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 6412500076289, last edited 11 July 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.