Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Lidl Onion rings ultra-processed?

Onions and their products Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Lidl Onion rings

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
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed onions and their products

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

Onion 57%, Wheat Flour, Sunflower Oil, Water, Wheat Starch, Wheat Fibre, Cornflour, Thickener (Sodium Alginate), Salt, Maize Starch, Dextrose, Raising Agents (Sodium Carbonates), Diphosphates, Dextrin, Colour (Curcumin), Stabiliser (Sodium Phosphates), including Cereals containing Gluten

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E1400 Dextrin , E339 Sodium phosphates , E401 Sodium alginate , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates

As written on the pack

57% Onion, Wheat Flour, Sunflower Oil, Water, Wheat Starch, Wheat Fibre, Cornflour, Thickener: Sodium Alginate; Salt, Maize Starch, Dextrose, Raising Agents: Sodium Carbonates, Diphosphates; Dextrin, Colour: Curcumin: Stabiliser: Sodium Phosphates. Allergy Advice For allergens, including Cereals containing Gluten, see ingredients in bold.

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E401 Sodium alginate 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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 68 onions and their products

From least to most processed, this one ranks 68th. 32% of the onions and their products 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 68 onions and their products, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489218654, 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.