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Is dr Praeger's Crunchy Southwestern Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers ultra-processed?

10 Oz (283g) Vegetarian hamburgers Sold in the United States

Pack of dr Praeger's Crunchy Southwestern Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

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:

  • 50 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegetarian hamburgers

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

Sweet potato, rice flour, brown rice (water, brown rice), black beans (black beans, water), canola oil, sunflower oil, water, BBQ sauce (water, sugar, distilled vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, molasses, rice starch, pineapple juice concentrate, salt, beet powder (color), garlic, natural flavor, spices, smoke flavoring), oats, onions, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, oat bran, contains less than 2% of oat fiber, arrowroot, salt, raisin juice concentrate, amaranth flour, garlic, cornstarch, salt, chili pepper, spices, smoked paprika, onion, garlic, chipotle chili pepper, cayenne pepper, dextrose, yeast extract

As written on the pack

Sweet potato, rice flour, cooked brown rice (water, brown rice), cooked black beans (black beans, water), expeller pressed canola oil and/or sunflower oil, water, BBQ sauce (water, sugar, distilled vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, molasses, rice starch, pineapple juice concentrate, salt, beet powder (color), garlic powder, natural flavor, spices, smoke flavoring), whole grain oats, onions, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, oat bran, contains less than 2% of oat fiber, arrowroot, salt, raisin juice concentrate, whole grain amaranth flour, garlic, cornstarch, salt, chili pepper powder, spices, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chipotle chili pepper powder, cayenne pepper powder, dextrose, yeast extract.

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.

  • 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.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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 21 vegetarian hamburgers

From least to most processed, this one ranks 11th. 71% of the vegetarian hamburgers 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 21 vegetarian hamburgers, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0080868008011, last edited 10 April 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.