Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Hellmann's Hellman's burger sauce ultra-processed?

258 g, 250 ml Burger sauces Sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France

Pack of Hellmann's Hellman's burger sauce

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:

  • 37 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed burger 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

water, rapeseed oil 20%, pickled gherkins 10% (gherkins, water, salt, modified corn starch, acetic acid, spirit vinegar), mustard 64% (water, mustard seeds, spirit vinegar, salt, flavourings, spices), sugar, herb vinegar (spirit vinegar, herb extracts), tomato paste, modified corn starch, egg yolk, onions 1.6%, red chili pepper paste 1% (red chilli pepper, water, salt, spirit vinegar, modified maize starch), salt, flavourings, lemon juice concentrate, cayenne pepper, dill, calcium disodium edta, carotenes

Additives: E160a Carotene , E260 Acetic acid , E385 Calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate

As written on the pack

water, rapeseed oil (20%), pickled gherkins (10%)(gherkins, water, salt, modified corn starch, acid (acetic acid), spirit vinegar), mustard (64%) (water, mustard seeds, spirit vinegar, salt, flavourings, spices), sugar, herb vinegar (spirit vinegar, herb extracts), tomato paste, modified corn starch, egg yolk, onions (1,6%), red chili pepper paste (1%)(red chilli pepper, water, salt, spirit vinegar, modified maize starch), salt, flavourings, lemon juice concentrate, cayenne pepper, dill, antioxidant (calcium disodium edta), colour (carotenes),

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • 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.
3 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 23 burger sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 11th. 91% of the burger 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 23 burger sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8712100891779, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.