Is Rubicon Sparkling Mango ultra-processed?

330 ml Carbonated fruit soft drink Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
Flavouring
Sweetener
E160a Carotene
E440 Pectins
E955 Sucralose

15 ingredients
6 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed carbonated fruit soft drink

Boisson petillante Belvoir Fleur de Surea Belvoir Fruit Farms 5 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Lemonaid+ Blood Orange Lemonaid 8 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Elderflower Lemonade Cawston Press 6 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Sparking wild elderflower pressé 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

Carbonated Water, Mango Puree 5%, Sugar (processing marker), Acid (Malic Acid), Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Stabilisers, Gellen Gum, Pectin (ultra-processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Beta Carotene (ultra-processing marker)), Sweetener (ultra-processing marker) (Sucralose (ultra-processing marker)), Preservative (processing marker) (Sodium Benzoate)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E211 Sodium benzoate , E296 Malic acid , E440 Pectins , E955 Sucralose

As written on the pack

Carbonated Water, Mango Puree (5%), Sugar, Acid (Malic Acid), Flavourings, Stabilisers (Gellen Gum, Pectin, Colour (Beta Carotene), Sweetener (Sucralose), Preservative (Sodium Benzoate).

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.

E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
E955 Sucralose Sucralose is a sweetener made by chlorinating sugar.
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.
Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 45 carbonated fruit soft drink

From least to most processed, this one ranks 38th. 84% of the carbonated fruit soft drink 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 45 carbonated fruit soft drink, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5011898002019, last edited 19 July 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.