Is Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce ultra-processed?

368g Hot sauces Sold in Canada, France and 2 more countries

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Modified starch

9 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score E

Less processed hot 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

Chilli Peppers 59% (Chilli Peppers 80%, Salt (processing marker)), water, sugar (processing marker), garlic 5%, rice vinegar, modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), acetic acid

Additives: E260 Acetic acid

As written on the pack

Salted Chilli Peppers 59% (Chilli Peppers 80%, Salt), water, sugar, dehydrated garlic 5%, rice vinegar, modified corn starch, acid (acetic acid)

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.

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.

3 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 185 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 71st. 70% of the hot 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 185 hot sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0078895770025, last edited 29 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.