Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Blue Dragon Oyster & Spring Onion stir fry sauce ultra-processed?

Oyster sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Blue Dragon Oyster & Spring Onion 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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed oyster 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, spirit vinegar, modified maize starch, hydrolysed vegetable protein, spring onion 1.5%, salt, garlic puree 1%, ginger 1%, fish sauce (anchovy, salt, water, sugar), colour (plain caramel), oyster 0.4% (oyster, tapioca starch, salt), red chilli paste (red chilli peppers, salt, acidity regulator (acetic acid)), acidity regulator (citric acid), natural flavouring

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

water, sugar, spirit vinegar, modified maize starch, hydrolysed vegetable protein, spring onion (1.5%), salt, garlic puree (1%), ginger puree (1%), fish sauce [anchovy extract (fish), salt, water, sugar], colour (plain caramel), oyster powder (0.4%) [dried oyster (mollusc), tapioca starch, salt], red chilli paste [red chilli peppers, salt, acidity regulator (acetic acid)], acidity regulator (citric acid), natural flavouring.

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.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 13 oyster sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 77% of the oyster 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 13 oyster sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010338200091, last edited 10 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.