Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Jongga Kimchi ultra-processed?

Plant-based pickles Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Jongga Kimchi

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed plant-based pickles

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

Cabbage 71.2%, Radish, Red Pepper, Rice Paste (Rice, Water), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Garlic Chives, Onion, Leek, Fermented Anchovy Sauce (Anchovy, Salt), Monosodium Glutamate (e621), Fermented Shrimp Sauce (Shrimp, Salt), Lactic Acid Bacteria, Ginger

Additives: E621 Monosodium glutamate

As written on the pack

Cabbage (71.20%), Radish, Red Pepper Powder, Rice Paste (Rice Powder, Water), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Garlic Chives, Onion, Leek, Fermented Anchovy Sauce (Anchovy, Salt) Monosodium Glutamate (E621), Fermented Shrimp Sauce (Shrimp, Salt), Lactic Acid Bacteria, Ginger

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.

  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.

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.
  • High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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 296 plant-based pickles

From least to most processed, this one ranks 284th. 31% of the plant-based pickles 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 296 plant-based pickles, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8801052102375, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.