Is Smucker's Low Sugar Strawberry Preserves ultra-processed?

Berry jams Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
E410 Locust bean gum
E440 Pectins

9 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed berry jams

Blueberry Superfood Fruit Spread Smash Foods 4 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
Organic Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves Trader Joe's 5 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Organic Select Raspberry Fruit Spread Full Circle Market 3 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Strawberry Jam Bonne Maman 2 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

strawberries, sugar (processing marker), water, fruit pectin (ultra-processing marker), citric acid, locust bean gum (ultra-processing marker), vegetable juice (for color (ultra-processing marker)), calcium chloride

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E410 Locust bean gum , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

STRAWBERRIES, SUGAR, WATER, FRUIT PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, LOCUST BEAN GUM, VEGETABLE JUICE (FOR COLOR), CALCIUM CHLORIDE

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.

E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

1 ingredient that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 207 berry jams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 182nd. 93% of the berry jams 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 207 berry jams, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0051500016695, last edited 28 September 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.