Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Pauls Vanilla custard ultra-processed?

600 g Custards and pastry creams Sold in Australia

Pack of Pauls Vanilla custard

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:

  • 9 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed custards and pastry creams

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

Milk, skim milk, sugar, thickener (1442), milk, stabilisers (412, 407)

Additives: E1442 Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate , E407 Carrageenan , E412 Guar gum

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E1442 Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, E407 Carrageenan, E412 Guar gum.

As written on the pack

Milk, skim milk, sugar, thickener (1442), milk solids, stabilisers (412, 407),

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.

  • E1442 Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate is a chemically modified starch used to thicken and stabilise desserts, sauces and soups.
  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
1 ingredient that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 36 custards and pastry creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 94% of the custards and pastry creams 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 36 custards and pastry creams, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9310036052821, last edited 2 February 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.