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Is Ribena Blackcurrant Light Bottle ultra-processed?

500ml Artificially sweetened beverages Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Ribena Blackcurrant Light Bottle

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:

  • 17 ingredients
  • 9 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed artificially sweetened beverages

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 7%, Acids (Malic Acid, Citric Acid), Acidity Regulators (Calcium Hydroxide, Calcium Carbonate), Vitamin C, Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Flavouring, Colour (Anthocyanins)

Additives: E163 Anthocyanins , E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E296 Malic acid , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E526 Calcium hydroxide , E950 Acesulfame k , E951 Aspartame

As written on the pack

Water, Blackcurrant Juice from Concentrate (7%), Acids (Malic Acid, Citric Acid), Acidity Regulators (Calcium Hydroxide, Calcium Carbonate), Vitamin C, Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Flavouring, Colour Anthocyanins). Contains a source of Phenylalanine.

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.

  • E163 Anthocyanins Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
  • E951 Aspartame Aspartame is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, used in diet drinks and sugar-free products.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 525 artificially sweetened beverages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 489th. 98% of the artificially sweetened beverages 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 525 artificially sweetened beverages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054267002340, last edited 15 August 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.