Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Panda Express Orange Sauce ultra-processed?

Sauces Sold in the United States

Pack of Panda Express Orange 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:

  • 19 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed 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

sugar, water, distilled vinegar, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybean, salt, alcohol, rice vinegar, lactic acid), food starch-modified, contains less than 2% of salt spices, xanthan gum, natural flavors (includes yeast extract), lactic acid, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy protein

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E270 Lactic acid , E415 Xanthan gum

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

As written on the pack

sugar, water, distilled vinegar, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybean, salt, alcohol, rice vinegar, lactic acid), food starch-modified, contains less than 2% of salt spices, xanthan gum, natural flavors (includes yeast extract), lactic acid, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy protein,

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

  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,964 sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2507th. 60% of the 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 2,964 sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0698639080038, last edited 14 April 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.