Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Asda Red lentil soup ultra-processed?

400 g Vegetable soups Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Asda Red lentil soup

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:

  • 33 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed vegetable soups

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, red lentils 34%, vegetables 10% (carrots 4.8%, potatoes 3.3%, onions 1.9%), tomato purée, modified maize starch, maize starch, salt, fortified wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin (b3), thiamin (b1)), yeast extract, onion, sugar, leek, garlic, white pepper, firming agent (calcium chloride), parsley, flavourings (contain celery), oregano, colour (carotenes), onion oil

Additives: E160a Carotene , E509 Calcium chloride

As written on the pack

water, rehydrated red lentils 34%, vegetables (10%) [carrots (48%), potatoes (33%), onions (19%)], tomato purée, modified maize starch, maize starch, salt, fortified wheat flour [wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin (b3), thiamin (b1)], yeast extract, onion powder, sugar, leek powder, garlic powder, ground white pepper, firming agent (calcium chloride), parsley, flavourings (contain celery), oregano extract, colour (carotenes), onion oil

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.
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 226 vegetable soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 209th. 52% of the vegetable 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 226 vegetable soups, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 21115035, 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.
  • NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.