Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Old El Paso Fajitas cooking sauce ultra-processed?

Cooking Sauces Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Old El Paso Fajitas cooking sauce

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed cooking 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, chopped tomatoes 21%, tomato paste, onion, flamed pepper 4%, red pepper 4%, green pepper 4%, modified starch, sugar, hydrolysed soy protein, acidity regulator (sodium acetate, citric acid), salt, onion, flavouring, spices, smoke flavouring, natural flavouring, garlic, yeast extract, firming agent (calcium chloride)

Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E262 Sodium acetates , E262i Sodium acetate , E330 Citric acid , E509 Calcium chloride

As written on the pack

water, chopped tomatoes (21%), tomato paste, onion, flamed pepper (4%), red pepper (4%), green pepper (4%), modified starch, sugar, hydrolysed soy protein, acidity regulator (sodium acetate, citric acid), salt, onion powder, flavouring, spices, smoke flavouring, natural flavouring, garlic powder, yeast extract, firming agent (calcium chloride)

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.

  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary 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.

  • 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 36 cooking Sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 33rd. 67% of the cooking 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 36 cooking Sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8410076430175, last edited 21 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.