Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Hoisin Sauce ultra-processed?

Hoisin sauces Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Hoisin 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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed hoisin 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

Sugar, Water, Soybean Paste 22%, Wate Chinese-style sauce with a rich blend of soybeans Ground Fermented Soybeans, Salt, Wheat Flour Sarch, Sesame Seeds, Acidity Regulator, Acetic A Gucose-Fructose Syrup, Salt, Thickener, Modifed Maine Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Spices, and

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Sugar, Water, Soybean Paste (22%) Wate Chinese-style sauce with a rich blend of soybeans Ground Fermented Soybeans, Salt, Wheat Flour Sarch), Ground Sesame Seeds, Acidity Regulator (Acetic A Gucose-Fructose Syrup, Salt, Thickener (Modifed Maine Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Spices. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Allergy Advice:

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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 15 hoisin sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4th. 87% of the hoisin 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 15 hoisin sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010338000059, last edited 25 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.