Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles ultra-processed?

4x66.5g Ice pops Sold in the United Kingdom and Qatar

Pack of Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed ice pops

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, fruit juice from concentrate 25% (pineapple, orange, lemon, raspberry, blackcurrant), sugar, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, acid (citric acid), stabilisers (guar gum), flavourings, invert sugar syrup, colours (beetroot red, curcumin, carotenes), safflower concentrate, spirulina concentrate, caramelised sugar syrup

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E160a Carotene , E162 Beetroot red , E330 Citric acid , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

water, fruit juice from concentrate (25%) (pineapple, orange, lemon, raspberry, blackcurrant), sugar, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, acid (citric acid), stabilisers (guar gum), flavourings, invert sugar syrup, colours (beetroot red, curcumin, carotenes), safflower concentrate, spirulina concentrate, caramelised sugar syrup

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.

  • E100 Curcumin 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.
  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E162 Beetroot red 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.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Fruit juice concentrate An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
3 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.

  • Candies Products in the category "Candies" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 24 ice pops

From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 75% of the ice pops 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 24 ice pops, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010238297115, last edited 29 May 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.