Is Hellmann's Hellmanns Thousand Island Dressing 250ml ultra-processed?

250 ml Salad dressings Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Modified starch
E415 Xanthan gum

33 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed salad dressings

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

water, rapeseed oil, spirit vinegar, sugar (processing marker), red pe paste 4.4% (red pepper, spirit vinegar, sugar (processing marker), salt (processing marker)), tomato paste 3%, modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), egg yolk, mustard (water, mustard seeds, spirit vinegar, salt (processing marker), burnt sugar syrup, spices), sa onion powder, spices (contain mustard), garlic powder, chives, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), potassium sorbate (processing marker), blackcurrant, radish, carrot, lemon, safflower, cayenne pepper, rinse cap on eti158110 no artificial colours

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

water, rapeseed oil, spirit vinegar, sugar, red pe paste (4,4%) (red pepper pieces, spirit vinegar, sugar, salt), tomato paste (3%), modified corn starch, egg yolk, mustard (water, mustard seeds, spirit vinegar, salt, burnt sugar syrup, spices), sa onion powder, spices (contain mustard), garlic powder, chives, stabiliser (xanthan gum), preservative (potassium sorbate), colours (blackcurrant, radish, carrot, lemon, safflower), cayenne pepper, rinse cap on eti158110 no artificial colours

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.
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.

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.

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.
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 252 salad dressings

From least to most processed, this one ranks 117th. 85% of the salad dressings 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 252 salad dressings, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8720182302960, last edited 28 August 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.