Is Nestlé Authentic Indian Hot & Sweet Sauce ultra-processed?

400g Hot sauces Sold in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Thickener
E415 Xanthan gum

15 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed hot 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), red chilli purée 20.5%, iodised salt (processing marker) (salt, potassium iodate), red chilli 2%, acid (acetic acid), cumin 1%, starch (processing marker), thickener (ultra-processing marker) (xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)), preservative (processing marker) (sodium benzoate)

Additives: E211 Sodium benzoate , E260 Acetic acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

WATER, SUGAR, RED CHILLI PURÉE (20.5%), IODISED SALT (SALT, POTASSIUM IODATE), RED CHILLI POWDER (2%), ACID (ACETIC ACID), CUMIN POWDER (1%), STARCH, THICKENER (XANTHAN GUM), PRESERVATIVE (SODIUM BENZOATE).

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
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 185 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 122nd. 70% of the hot 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 185 hot sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000243678801, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.