Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Swizzels strawberry & cream squashies ultra-processed?

140g Candies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Swizzels strawberry & cream squashies

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:

  • 9 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed candies

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

Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Gelate Modified Starch, Citric Acid, Trisodium Citrate, Flavouring Pectin, Carnaubawax, Anthocyanin, Gelatine

Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E163 Anthocyanins , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E331iii Trisodium citrate , E428 Gelatine , E440 Pectins

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E14xx Modified Starch, E440 Pectins.

As written on the pack

Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Gelling Agent: Gelate Modified Starch, Acidity Regulators: Citric Acid, Trisodium Citrate; Flavouring Pectin, Glazing Agent: Carnaubawax; Colour: Anthocyanin. Gelatine

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.

  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • 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.
  • E428 Gelatine Gelatine is a gelling agent made from collagen in animal skin and bones.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.

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.
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 486 candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 222nd. 96% of the candies 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 486 candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010478091337, last edited 19 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.