Is Unilever Chicken Noodle Dry Packet Soup ultra-processed?

51g Dehydrated soups Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring

23 ingredients
4 additives

Less processed dehydrated soups

Sun-Dried Tomatoes with sea salt Italiamo 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Rice noodles chick-n ramen Itsu 25 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Brown rice miso soup paste Clearspring 20 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Japanese Mellow White Miso Instant Soup 4 x (40g) Clearspring 12 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

pasta (durum wheat semolina, wheat semolina), salt (processing marker), potato starch (processing marker), yeast extract, flavourings (ultra-processing marker) (contain celery), chicken 3%, chicken fat 2.5%, onion, potassium chloride, sugar (processing marker), palm oil, spices (celery seeds, turmeric, pepper), parsley, antioxidants (extracts of rosemary, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbyl palmitate)

Additives: E304 Fatty acid esters of ascorbic acid , E304i Ascorbyl palmitate , E307 Alpha-tocopherol , E392 Extracts of rosemary

As written on the pack

pasta (durum wheat semolina, wheat semolina) (65%), salt, potato starch, yeast extract, flavourings (contain celery), chicken (3% ), chicken fat (2,5%), toasted onion powder, potassium chloride, sugar, palm oil, spices (celery seeds, turmeric, pepper), parsley, antioxidants (extracts of rosemary, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbyl palmitate), may contain milk, egg and mustard,

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.

Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

4 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.

Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 55 dehydrated soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 84% of the dehydrated soups 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 55 dehydrated soups, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8712566247905, last edited 27 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.