Is Hellmann's Lighter Than Light Mayonnaise ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 19 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed light mayonnaises
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Water, spirit vinegar, modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), rapeseed oil, sugar (processing marker), egg 4%, egg yolk 4%, salt (processing marker), cream powder, citrus fibre (ultra-processing marker), thickener (ultra-processing marker) (xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)), preservative (processing marker) (potassium sorbate (processing marker)), flavourings (ultra-processing marker), lemon juice concentrate, sunflower oil (processing marker), colour (ultra-processing marker) (carotene (ultra-processing marker))
Additives: E160a Carotene , E202 Potassium sorbate , E415 Xanthan gum
As written on the pack
Water, spirit vinegar, modified corn starch, rapeseed oil, sugar, egg & egg yolk (4%), salt, cream powder, (contains milk), citrus fibre, thickener (xanthan gum), preservative (potassium sorbate), flavourings (contains milk), lemon juice concentrate, sunflower oil, colour (carotene). Gluten free
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.
- E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
- 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.
- 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.
- Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
6 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.
- 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.
Among 23 light mayonnaises
From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 91% of the light mayonnaises here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8711200384440, last edited 8 July 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.