Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Essential Waitrose Cream of tomato soup ultra-processed?

400g Cream of tomato soups Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Essential Waitrose Cream of tomato soup

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:

  • 13 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed cream of tomato soups

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

Tomato purée 56%, water, sugar, rapeseed oil, modified maize starch, salt, skimmed milk powder, acidity regulator (citric acid), double cream, paprika, basil extract, flavourings

Additives: E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Tomato purée (56%). water, sugar, rapeseed oil, modified maize starch, salt, skimmed milk powder, acidity regulator citric acid, double cream (milk), paprika, basil extract, flavourings

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.
5 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 8 cream of tomato soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 6th. 75% of the cream of tomato soups 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 8 cream of tomato soups, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169107300, last edited 27 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.