Is Lidl Sweet Chilli Sauce ultra-processed?

Sweet and sour sauces Sold in the United Kingdom and Germany

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
E160c Paprika extract

15 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score C

Less processed sweet and sour 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

11 (05), 14 Keep refrigerated Sweet and spicy stir fry sauce made with tomato, red chili, gin Ingredients Water, Sugar (processing marker), Rice Wine Vinegar, Cornflour, Tomato Purée 3%, Red Chilli 2%, Ginger 2%, Garlic Purée 2%, Salt (processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E160c Paprika extract

As written on the pack

11:05:14 Keep refrigerated Sweet and spicy stir fry sauce made with tomato, red chili, gin Ingredients Water, Sugar, Rice Wine Vinegar, Cornflour, 3% Tomato Purée, 2% Red Chilli, 2% Ginger Purée, 2% Garlic Purée, Salt, Colour: Paprika Extract.

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.

E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

2 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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 17 sweet and sour sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 5th. 88% of the sweet and sour 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 17 sweet and sour sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489888659, last edited 26 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.