Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Original baked beans ultra-processed?

Canned common beans Sold in the United States

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed canned common beans

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

white beans, water, brown sugar, sugar, contains less than 2% of (bacon, with water), salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, salt, mustard (vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, garlic), modified food starch, onion, caramel color, calcium chloride (firming agent), natural flavor

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E250 Sodium nitrite , E316 Sodium erythorbate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Prepared white beans, water, brown sugar, sugar, contains less than 2% of: bacon (cured with water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite), salt, mustard (vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, garlic powder), modified food starch, onion powder, caramel color, calcium chloride (firming agent), natural flavor.

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.
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.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite 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.
  • 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 175 canned common beans

From least to most processed, this one ranks 170th. 47% of the canned common beans 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 175 canned common beans, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0078742246109, last edited 23 April 2020), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • 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.