Is Pearl Milling Company Lite Syrup ultra-processed?

Syrups Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Fructose
E150c Ammonia caramel
E452 Polyphosphates
and 1 more

9 ingredients
6 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed syrups

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

high fructose corn syrup (ultra-processing marker), water, cellulose gum (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), natural and artificial flavor (ultra-processing marker), caramel color, sorbic acid, sodium benzoate, sodium hexametaphosphate (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E200 Sorbic acid , E211 Sodium benzoate , E452 Polyphosphates , E452i Sodium polyphosphate , E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose

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

As written on the pack

high fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, salt, natural and artificial flavor, caramel color, sorbic acid, sodium benzoate, sodium hexametaphosphate

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.
E452 Polyphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose Carboxymethyl cellulose is a thickener made by chemically modifying cellulose from wood or cotton.
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.
High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 181 syrups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 155th. 54% of the syrups 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 181 syrups, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0030000655504, last edited 3 September 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.