Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Ribena ultra-processed?

1.5L Fruit juice concentrates Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Ribena

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 6 additives

Less processed fruit juice concentrates

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

Water Blackcurrant Juice from Concentrate 22%, Sugar, Thickener, Polydextrose, Acidity Regulator, Sodium Gluconate, Acid (Citric Acid), Vitamin C, Carrot, Hibiscus, Natural Blackcurrant Flavourings Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulphite), Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose), 1 No artificial flavours or 5054267 003460 1023 192

Additives: E1200 Polydextrose , E202 Potassium sorbate , E222 Sodium bisulphite , E330 Citric acid , E576 Sodium gluconate , E950 Acesulfame k

As written on the pack

Water Blackcurrant Juice from Concentrate (22%), Sugar, Thickener (Polydextrose, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Gluconate, Acid (Citric Acid), Vitamin C, Extracts of Carrot and Hibiscus, Natural Blackcurrant Flavourings Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulphite), Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose) 1 No artificial flavours or 5054267 003460 1023 192

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.

  • E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 12 fruit juice concentrates

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 67% of the fruit juice concentrates 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 12 fruit juice concentrates, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054267003460, last edited 28 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.