Is Hellmann’s Lighter Than Light Mayonnaise imp ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 21 ingredients
- 4 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed light mayonnaises
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Water, spirit vinegar, modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), sugar (processing marker), free range EGG 4%, EGG yolk 4%, rapeseed oil, salt (processing marker), cream powder, citrus fibre (ultra-processing marker), colours (ultra-processing marker) (titanium dioxide (ultra-processing marker), carotenes (ultra-processing marker)), thickener (ultra-processing marker) (xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)), flavourings (ultra-processing marker), preservative (processing marker) (potassium sorbate), lemon juice concentrate, antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA)
Additives: E160a Carotene , E171 Titanium dioxide , E385 Calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate , E415 Xanthan gum
As written on the pack
Water, spirit vinegar, modified corn starch, sugar, pasteurised free range EGG & EGG yolk (4%), rapeseed oil, salt, cream powder (MILK), citrus fibre, colours (titanium dioxide, carotenes), thickener (xanthan gum), flavourings (contain MILK), preservative (potassium sorbate) lemon juice concentrate, antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA).
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.
- E171 Titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide is a white pigment.
- 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.
Show 1 more
- 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.
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.
- 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.
Among 23 light mayonnaises
From least to most processed, this one ranks 22nd. 91% of the light mayonnaises here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000118078262, last edited 27 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.