Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Fresh Express Chopped Kit Asian ultra-processed?

Prepared salads Sold in the United States

Pack of Fresh Express Chopped Kit Asian

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:

  • 65 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed prepared salads

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

Salad (savoy cabbage), green cabbage, carrots, celery, green onion, cilantro, dressing (water), high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, sugar, distilled vinegar, steak sauce (water, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, salt, raisins paste, orange, spices, dried garlic, dried onion, caramel color, xanthan gum), soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), salt, seasame oil, modified corn starch, seasme seeds, spice, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), guar gum, dried garlic, dried onion, calcium disodium edta (added to protect quality), wonton strips (enriched wheat flour, niacin), reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, vegetable oil (soybean, cottonseed), water, eggs, salt, sodium benzoate (preservative), enzyme, naturally colored with annatto, turmeric, and dusted with cornstarch, almonds

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E202 Potassium sorbate , E211 Sodium benzoate , E385 Calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Salad: savoy cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, celery, green onion, cilantro, dressing: water, high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, sugar, distilled vinegar, steak sauce (water, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, salt, raisins paste, orange puree, spices, dried garlic, dried onion, caramel color, xanthan gum), soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), salt, seasame oil, modified corn starch, seasme seeds, spice, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), guar gum, dried garlic, dried onion, calcium disodium edta (added to protect quality) wonton strips: enriched wheat flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (soybean and/or cottonseed), water, eggs, salt, sodium benzoate (preservative), enzyme, naturally colored with annatto and turmeric, and dusted with cornstarch, almonds.

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • 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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
8 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 224 prepared salads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 214th. 60% of the prepared salads 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 224 prepared salads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0071279302027, last edited 28 September 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.