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Is Kikkoman Less Sodium Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce ultra-processed?

Teriyaki sauces Sold in the United States and France

Pack of Kikkoman Less Sodium Teriyaki Marinade & 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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed teriyaki 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

Soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), sugar, water, wine, vinegar, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, salt, spice, garlic extract, dextrose, citric acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium benzoate (less than 1, 10 of 1% as a preservative)

Additives: E211 Sodium benzoate , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

As written on the pack

Soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), sugar, water, wine, vinegar, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, salt, spice extractives, garlic extract, dextrose, citric acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium benzoate: less than 1/10 of 1% as a preservative.

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.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • 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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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.

  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 22 teriyaki sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 22nd. 64% of the teriyaki 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 22 teriyaki sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0041390010408, last edited 13 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.