Is Simply Fruity blackcurrant and apple ultra-processed?

330ml Blackcurrant soft drinks 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:

Flavouring
Sweetener
Fruit juice concentrate
E950 Acesulfame k
E955 Sucralose

17 ingredients
6 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed fruit sodas

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 Juices from Concentrate (ultra-processing marker) 5% (Blackcurrant 3%, Apple 2%), Acid (Citric Acid), Natural Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Black Carrot Concentrate, Sweeteners (ultra-processing marker) (Acesulfame K (ultra-processing marker), Sucralose (ultra-processing marker)), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Preservatives (processing marker) (Sodium Benzoate, Dimethyl Dicarbonate), contains naturally occurring sugars

Additives: E211 Sodium benzoate , E242 Dimethyl dicarbonate , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E950 Acesulfame k , E955 Sucralose

As written on the pack

Water, Fruit Juices from Concentrate 5% (Blackcurrant 3%, Apple 2%), Acid (Citric Acid), Natural Flavourings, Black Carrot Concentrate, Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Preservatives (Sodium Benzoate, Dimethyl Dicarbonate). CONTAINS NATURALLY OCCURRING SUGARS.

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.
E955 Sucralose Sucralose is a sweetener made by chlorinating sugar.
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.

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.

Fruit juice concentrate An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.

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.

Sodas Products in the category "Sodas" are at least group 3.
Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 9 blackcurrant soft drinks

From least to most processed, this one ranks 6th. 100% of the blackcurrant soft drinks 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 9 blackcurrant soft drinks, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000382018438, last edited 21 March 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.