Is it ultra-processed?
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Is John West Tuna bean salad ultra-processed?

220 g Tuna salads Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of John West Tuna bean salad

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:

  • 26 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed tuna salads

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

Red Kidney Beans 18%, Skipjack Tuna 18%, Red Peppers 15%, Sweetcorn 13%, White Beans 10%, Onions, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Concentrated Tomato Purée 3%, Sugar, Salt, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Spirit Vinegar, Modified Maize Starch, Vegetable Stock (Vegetable Extracts (Carrots, Onions, Leeks), Water, Salt, Spice), Guar Gum, Spices, Natural Flavouring, Spices Extracts

Additives: E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

Red Kidney Beans (18%), Skipjack Tuna (18%), Red Peppers (15%), Sweetcorn (13%), White Beans (10%), Onions, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Concentrated Tomato Purée (3%), Sugar, Salt, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Spirit Vinegar, Modified Maize Starch, Vegetable Stock (Vegetable Extracts (Carrots, Onions, Leeks), Water, Salt, Spice), Thickener: Guar Gum, Spices, Natural Flavouring, Spices Extracts.

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.

  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • 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.
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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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 14 tuna salads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 71% of the tuna salads 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 14 tuna salads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000171054456, last edited 21 August 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.