Is Asda Free From Tomato & Herb Pasta Bake Sauce ultra-processed?

Pasta sauces 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:

Modified starch
E415 Xanthan gum
E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

18 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed pasta sauces

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, Concentrated Tomato Purée 15%, Rapeseed Oil, Tomatoes 5%, Coconut, Sugar (processing marker), Modified Maize Starch (ultra-processing marker), Onions, mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker), Xanthan Gum (ultra-processing marker), Lemon Juice from concentrate, Salt (processing marker), Egg Yolk, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Oregano, Parsley

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Water, Concentrated Tomato Purée (15%), Rapeseed Oil, Tomatoes (5%), Coconut, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Onions, Stabilisers (Mono - and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Xanthan Gum), Lemon Juice from concentrate, Salt, Dried Egg Yolk, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Garlic Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Oregano, Dried Parsley.

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.

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 317 pasta sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 287th. 49% of the pasta sauces 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 317 pasta sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054781052548, last edited 20 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.