Is Merchant Gourmet Persian-Style Quinona & Lentils ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 50 ingredients
- No additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed lentils
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
White Quinoa 34% (Water, White Quinoa), Cooked Green Lentils 26% (Water Green Lentils), Cooked Rice 25% (Water, Rice), Raisins 6%, Dried Kibbled Onions 2.4%, Vegetable Oil (processing marker) (contains Sunflower Oil, Rapeseed Oil), Vegetable Boullion, Salt (processing marker), Yeast Extract, Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), Potato Starch (processing marker), Onion Extract, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Tumeric), Herb Extracts, Spice Extract, Onion, Harissa Paste (processing marker) 0.5%, Fructose (ultra-processing marker), Water, Sugar (processing marker), White Wine Vinegar, Tomato Purée, Red Pepper, Lemon Juice, Salt (processing marker), Mint, Cornflour, Onion Extract, Caraway, Cayenne Chilli, Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Coriander, Cumin, Yeast Extract, Cumin Seeds, Garlic, Best before and Farley Colour (Turmeric), Black Pepper
As written on the pack
Cooked White Quinoa (34%) (Water, White Quinoa), Cooked Green Lentils (26%) (Water Green Lentils), Cooked Wholegrain Rice (25%) (Water, Wholegrain Rice), Raisins (6%), Dried Kibbled Onions (2.4%), Vegetable Oil (contains Sunflower Oil and/or Rapeseed Oil), Vegetable Boullion (Salt, Yeast Extract, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Onion Extract, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Colour: Tumeric, Herb Extracts, Spice Extract, Onion Powder, Harissa Paste (0.5%) (Fructose, Water, Sugar, White Wine Vinegar, Tomato Purée, Red Pepper Juice Concentrate, Lemon Juice, Salt, Mint, Cornflour, Onion Extract, Caraway, Cayenne Chilli, Smoked Paprika, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Yeast Extract, Cumin Seeds, Garlic Powder, Best before and Farley Colour: Turmeric, Black Pepper.
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.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.
- Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
5 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.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
- Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.
Among 70 lentils
From least to most processed, this one ranks 64th. 34% of the lentils here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5018095011431, 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.