Is Hot Pepper Sauce ultra-processed?

Hot sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Thickener
E415 Xanthan gum

33 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed hot 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, Hot Peppers 35%, Salt (processing marker), Acidity Regulators (Acetic Acid), Citric Acid, Thickener (ultra-processing marker) (Xanthan Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Hot Pepper, Cane Vinegar, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid, DE Karibische scharfe Pfeffersoße Zutaten), Wasser, scharfer Pfeffer 35%, Salz, Säureregulatoren (Essigsäure), Citronensäure, Verdickungsmittel Xanthangummi, Paprika extrakt, Rohressig, Antioxidationsmittel (Ascorbinsäure Caribische hete pepersaus Ingrediënten Water), hete pepers 35%, zout, zuurteregelaars (azijnzuur), citroenzuur, verdikkingsmiddelen (xanthaangom), hete peper extract, For

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E300 Ascorbic acid , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Water, Hot Peppers (35%), Salt, Acidity Regulators: Acetic Acid, Citric Acid, Thickener: Xanthan Gum, Hot Pepper Extract, Cane Vinegar, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid. DE Karibische scharfe Pfeffersoße Zutaten: Wasser, scharfer Pfeffer (35%), Salz, Säureregulatoren: Essigsäure, Citronensäure, Verdickungsmittel Xanthangummi, Paprika extrakt, Rohressig, Antioxidationsmittel: Ascorbinsäure Caribische hete pepersaus Ingrediënten Water, hete pepers (35%), zout, zuurteregelaars: azijnzuur, citroenzuur, verdikkingsmiddelen: xanthaangom, hete peper extract, For

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.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

1 ingredient 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 184 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 134th. 70% of the hot 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 184 hot sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5029788150290, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.