Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Blue Dragon Hoisin &garlic stir fry sauce ultra-processed?

120g Hoisin sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Blue Dragon Hoisin &garlic stir fry sauce

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed hoisin 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, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, soybean paste 6.5% (water, soya beans, rice, salt), white rice vinegar, light soy sauce 4.5% (water, salt, soya beans, wheat, sugar, alcohol), spring onion 4.5%, modified maize starch, tomato paste, garlic purée 1.5%, ging purée, toasted sesame oil 1%, colour (plain caramel), spices 0.6%, yeast extract paste, salt

Additives: E150a Plain caramel

As written on the pack

water, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, soybean paste (6.5%) [water, soya beans, rice, salt], white rice vinegar, light soy sauce (4.5%) [water, salt, soya beans, roasted wheat, sugar, alcohol], spring onion (4.5%.), modified maize starch, concentrated tomato paste, garlic purée (1.5%), ging purée, toasted sesame oil (1%), colour plain caramel), spices (0.6%), yeast extract paste, salt

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.

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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
5 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 15 hoisin sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 12th. 87% of the hoisin 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 15 hoisin sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010338200107, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.