Is Bush's Best Chili Beans Red Beans ultra-processed?

16oz Canned common beans Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Firming agent
Modified starch

13 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed canned common beans

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

red beans, water, contains less than 2% of (modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker)), salt (processing marker), tomato paste, spices, sugar (processing marker), corn oil (processing marker), garlic, onion, calcium chloride (firming agent (ultra-processing marker))

As written on the pack

prepared red beans, water, contains less than 2% of: modified corn starch, salt, tomato paste, spices, sugar, corn oil, garlic powder, onion powder, calcium chloride (firming agent),

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.

Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.
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.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 175 canned common beans

From least to most processed, this one ranks 137th. 47% of the canned common beans 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 175 canned common beans, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0039400016922, last edited 22 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.