Is Lidl spicy Mexican style microwave rice ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 22 ingredients
- 2 additives
- Nutri-Score B
Less processed rices
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
long grain rice 77% (water, long grain rice), sweetcorn 6%, tomato purée, adzuki beans 4%, red pepper, sunflower oil (processing marker), sugar (processing marker), jalapeño pepper, yeast extract, lemon juice, cumin, dried onion, turmeric extract (ultra-processing marker), dried garlic, garlic purée, stabiliser (guar gum (ultra-processing marker)), salt (processing marker), colour (ultra-processing marker) (paprika)
Additives: E100 Curcumin , E412 Guar gum
As written on the pack
cooked long grain rice 77% (water, long grain rice), sweetcorn 6%, tomato purée, adzuki beans 4%, red pepper, sunflower oil, sugar, jalapeño pepper, yeast extract, lemon juice, ground cumin, dried onion, turmeric extract, dried garlic, garlic purée, stabiliser (guar gum), salt, colour (paprika).
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.
- E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Among 293 rices
From least to most processed, this one ranks 267th. 35% of the rices here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489240792, last edited 28 April 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.