Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Bush's Best Maple & Cured Bacon Baked Beans ultra-processed?

130 g Canned common beans Sold in the United States

Pack of Bush's Best Maple & Cured Bacon Baked Beans

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 1 additive

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

white beans, water, sugar, mustard (vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, spices), maple cured bacon, salt, pure maple, syrup, modified corn starch, onion powder, caramel color, tapioca maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract, bacon fat, natural flavor, and NATURAL SMOKE FLAVOR

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

PREPARED WHITE BEANS, WATER, SUGAR, MUSTARD (VINEGAR, WATER, MUSTARD SEED, SALT, SPICES), MAPLE CURED BACON, SALT, PURE MAPLE, SYRUP, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, ONION POWDER, CARAMEL COLOR, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, BACON FAT, NATURAL FLAVOR, AND NATURAL SMOKE FLAVOR.

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.

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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down 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 175 canned common beans

From least to most processed, this one ranks 166th. 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 0039400019701, last edited 4 August 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.