Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Pearl Milling Company Original Syrup ultra-processed?

710 ml Syrups Sold in the United States

Pack of Pearl Milling Company Original Syrup

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:

  • 13 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

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

corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, caramel color, salt, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzoate, i sorbic acid (preservatives), sodium hexametaphosphate (595-l05-38), smartlabel 10 30000 65970

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E200 Sorbic acid , E452 Polyphosphates , E452i Sodium polyphosphate , E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, caramel color, salt, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzoate and i sorbic acid (preservatives), sodium hexametaphosphate. (595-l05-38) a smartlabel 10 30000 65970

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • 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.
2 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.

  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 181 syrups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 153rd. 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 0030000659700, last edited 28 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.