Is Heinz Classic Barbecue Smokey & Rich ultra-processed?

665 g Barbecue sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Thickener
E415 Xanthan gum

12 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score D

Less processed barbecue sauces

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 puree, spirit vinegar, sugar (processing marker), molasses (processing marker), water, salt (processing marker), spices, thickener (ultra-processing marker) (xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)), garlic, smoke flavouring (ultra-processing marker), natural flavouring (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

tomato puree, spirit vinegar, sugar, molasses, water, salt, spices, thickener (xanthan gum), garlic, smoke flavouring, natural flavouring

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

2 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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 107 barbecue sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 35th. 86% of the barbecue sauces 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 107 barbecue sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000157140210, last edited 26 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.