Is Kühlmann Grandma's potato salad ultra-processed?

600g Prepared salads Sold in Ireland and Germany

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Thickener
E412 Guar gum

18 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed prepared salads

Greek style salad cheese Lidl 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 3
sweet potato and tenderstem broccoli Mark And Spencer 51 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Honey roast scottish salmon pasta salad Marks & Spencer 13 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Potato salad vegan Marks & Spencer 15 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

Potatoes 65%, rapeseed oil, eggs 8%, cucumbers 5%, sugar (processing marker), brandy vinegar, table salt (processing marker), chives, onions, starch (processing marker), egg yolk, spices, thickener (ultra-processing marker) (guar gum (ultra-processing marker)), acidity regulator (sodium acetate), preservative (processing marker) (potassium sorbate (processing marker))

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E262 Sodium acetates , E262i Sodium acetate , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

Potatoes 65%, rapeseed oil, eggs 8%, cucumbers 5%, sugar, brandy vinegar, table salt, chives, onions, starch, egg yolk, spices, thickener: guar gum, acidity regulator: sodium acetate, preservative: potassium sorbate.

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

6 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.
Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
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 224 prepared salads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 147th. 60% of the prepared 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 224 prepared salads, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4051009003116, last edited 25 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.