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Is Nando's PERi-PERi Rub Smoky BBQ ultra-processed?

25 g Spice blends Sold in the United Kingdom, Australia and France

Pack of Nando's PERi-PERi Rub Smoky BBQ

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 19 ingredients
  • 2 additives

Less processed spice blends

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

sugar, salt, smoked paprika 15%, red bell pepper, dried onion, black pepper, cumin, dried garlic 2%, ground african bird's eye chilli, coriander, rapeseed oil, parsley, allspice, maltodextrin, acidity regulator (citric acid), anti-caking agent (silicon dioxide), smoked salt

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E551 Silicon dioxide

As written on the pack

sugar, salt, smoked paprika (15%), dried red bell pepper, dried onion, black pepper, cumin, dried garlic (2%), ground african bird's eye chilli, coriander, rapeseed oil, parsley, allspice, maltodextrin, acidity regulator (citric acid), anti-caking agent (silicon dioxide), smoked salt

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.

  • E551 Silicon dioxide A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.

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.

  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
3 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.

  • Anti-caking agent Anti-caking agents are substances which reduce the tendency of individual particles of a foodstuff to adhere to one another.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 spice blends

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 81% of the spice blends 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 16 spice blends, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5039303000849, last edited 13 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.