Is ICA Basic Ketchup ultra-processed?

1 kg Ketchup Sold in Sweden

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Glucose
Fructose
Modified starch

11 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed ketchup

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

Vatten, tomatpuré 42%, glukos-fruktossirap (ultra-processing marker), modifierad majsstärkelse (ultra-processing marker), vinäger, socker (processing marker), salt (processing marker), arom (ultra-processing marker), konserveringsmedel (processing marker) (e202 (processing marker), e211)

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E211 Sodium benzoate

As written on the pack

Vatten, tomatpuré 42%, glukos-fruktossirap, modifierad majsstärkelse, vinäger, socker, salt, arom, konserveringsmedel (E202, E211).

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.

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.

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.

Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.

5 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 157 ketchup

From least to most processed, this one ranks 155th. 54% of the ketchup 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 157 ketchup, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7318690081876, last edited 2 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.