Is Maggi Hot & sweet tomato chili sauce ultra-processed?

500 g Sauces Sold in the United States and India

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Thickener

12 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed 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

Water, Sugar (processing marker), Tomato paste 11.9%, Red chilli puree 6.6%, Iodised salt (processing marker), Acidity regulator, Starch (processing marker), Mixed Spices, Garlic, Thickener (ultra-processing marker), Onion, Preservative (processing marker)

As written on the pack

Water, Sugar, Tomato paste (11.9%), Red chilli puree (6.6%), Iodised salt, Acidity regulator, Starch, Mixed Spices, Garlic powder, Thickener, Onion powder and Preservative . May contains Milk & Nut.

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.

Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
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 2,962 sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1278th. 60% of the 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 2,962 sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8901058895780, last edited 20 September 2025), 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.