Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce ultra-processed?

Pasta dishes Sold in the United States

Pack of Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat 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:

  • 61 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed pasta dishes

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

spaghetti (water, semolina, wheat flour), tomato puree (water, tomato paste), tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid, calcium chloride), water, mushrooms (mushrooms, water), cooked beef, pork, and less of onions 2%, wheat flour, modified cornstarch, sugar, salt, soy protein (with caramel color), soy sauce (soy sauce (soybeans, wheat, salt), maltodextrin, salt), basil, dried garlic, dried onions, parmesan, asiago cheese blend with flavor (parmesan, asiago cheeses (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), enzyme modified parmesan cheese (cultured milk, water, salt, enzymes), whey, salt, powdered cellulose), whey (whey, maltodextrin), soybean oil, autolyzed yeast extract, spices, beef stock, caramel color, potassium chloride, red peppers, natural flavors

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E330 Citric acid , E460 Cellulose , E460ii Powdered cellulose

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Cooked spaghetti (water, semolina, wheat flour), tomato puree (water, tomato paste), tomatoes (diced tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid, calcium chloride), water, mushrooms (mushrooms, water), cooked beef, cooked pork, 2% or less of onions, bleached wheat flour, modified cornstarch, sugar, salt, soy protein concentrate (with caramel color), dried soy sauce (soy sauce [soybeans, wheat, salt], maltodextrin, salt), basil, dried garlic, dried onions, parmesan and asiago cheese blend with flavor (parmesan & asiago cheeses [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], enzyme modified parmesan cheese [cultured milk, water, salt, enzymes], whey, salt, powdered cellulose), cultured whey (cultured whey, maltodextrin), soybean oil, autolyzed yeast extract, spices, beef stock, caramel color, potassium chloride, dried red peppers, natural flavors.

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • E460 Cellulose A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • 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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
7 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 544 pasta dishes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 483rd. 72% of the pasta dishes 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 544 pasta dishes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0013800166357, last edited 10 September 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.