Sodium acetates (E262)

No. Sodium acetates (E262) is not one of the markers Open Food Facts uses to classify a food as processed or ultra-processed, so on its own it doesn't raise a product's NOVA group.

What it is

Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.

A product that contains it can still be ultra-processed for other reasons: 304 of the 312 products here that contain sodium acetates (E262) (97%) are in group 4 because of other ingredients or additives.

Function

Preservative: Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Sequestrant: Sequestrants are substances which form chemical complexes with metallic ions.

Functional class definitions from the EU food additives regulation, via Open Food Facts.

More about sodium acetates (E262) on Wikidata

Where it turns up

Sodium acetates (E262) appears in 312 of the 40,000 products on this site (1%).

Corn chips 30 of 359 products
Crisps 21 of 1,471 products
Sausages 15 of 337 products
Potato crisps 14 of 622 products
Stacked extruded potato crisps 10 of 48 products
Breads 8 of 2,388 products

Products containing sodium acetates (E262)

Showing the 60 most popular of 312.

How the NOVA classification works