Is Bush's Grillin' Beans Bourbon & Brown Sugar ultra-processed?

1150g Canned common beans Sold in the United States and Germany

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Modified starch

15 ingredients
1 additive
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

white beans, water, brown sugar (processing marker), onion, tomato puree (tomato paste, water), salt (processing marker), modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), white distilled vinegar, natural flavor (ultra-processing marker), molasses (processing marker), spices, citric acid, natural bourbon flavor

Additives: E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

prepared white beans, water, brown sugar, onion, tomato puree (tomato paste, water), salt, modified corn starch, white distilled vinegar, natural flavor, molasses, spices, citric acid, natural bourbon 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.

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.

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 143rd. 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 0039400019107, last edited 1 May 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.