Is Meadow Fresh Caramelised Onion Houmous ultra-processed?

200 g Hummus Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
E150a Plain caramel

18 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score B

Less processed hummus

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

Cooked Chickpeas 53% (Chickpeas, Water), Onion 18% (Onion, Sugar (processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Plain Caramel (ultra-processing marker)), Soft Brown Sugar), Sesame Seed Paste 8%, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Concentrated Lemon Juice 3%, Garlic Purée, Garlic Purée, Salt (processing marker), Preservative (processing marker) (Potassium Sorbate (processing marker))

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E202 Potassium sorbate

As written on the pack

53% Cooked Chickpeas (Chickpeas, Water), 18% Caramelised Onion (Onion, Sugar, Colour: Plain Caramel; Soft Brown Sugar), 8% Sesame Seed Paste, Water, Rapeseed Oil, 3% Concentrated Lemon Juice, Garlic Purée, Roasted Garlic Purée, Salt, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate.

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.

E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
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.

E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 223 hummus

From least to most processed, this one ranks 205th. 25% of the hummus 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 223 hummus, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489240785, last edited 14 May 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.