Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Plant Menu Meat Free Hot Dogs ultra-processed?

240 g Vegetarian sausages Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Pack of Plant Menu Meat Free Hot Dogs

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:

  • 54 ingredients
  • 9 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed vegetarian sausages

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, soya protein 11%, onion, carrot, vegetable suet (palm oil, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sunflower oil), smoky seasoning (dextrose, sea salt, salt, stabiliser (triphosphates), flavourings, white pepper, nutmeg, black pepper, preservative (sodium metabisulphite), mace, smoked paprika, acidity regulator (ascorbic acid)), alginate casing (water, gelling agent (sodium alginate), acidity regulator (citric acid), thickener (guar gum), preservative (sodium metabisulphite)), garlic, wheat protein, thickener (methyl cellulose), pea fibre, sunflower oil, water, salt, stabilisers (lecithins (sunflower), calcium lactate), colour (iron oxides, hydroxides)

Additives: E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E327 Calcium lactate , E330 Citric acid , E401 Sodium alginate , E412 Guar gum , E451 Triphosphates , E461 Methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

water, soya protein 11%, onion, carrot, vegetable suet (palm oil, wheat flour ( wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sunflower oil), smoky seasoning (dextrose, oak smoked sea salt, salt, stabiliser (triphosphates), flavourings, white pepper, nutmeg, smoked black pepper, preservative (sodium metabisulphite), mace, smoked paprika, acidity regulator (ascorbic acid)), alginate casing (water, gelling agent (sodium alginate), acidity regulator (citric acid), thickener (guar gum), preservative (sodium metabisulphite)), garlic, wheat protein, thickener (methyl cellulose), pea fibre, sunflower oil, smoked water, salt, stabilisers (lecithins (sunflower), calcium lactate), colour (iron oxides and hydroxides),

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.

  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E327 Calcium lactate Thickeners are substances which increase the viscosity of a foodstuff.
  • E401 Sodium alginate 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.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E461 Methyl cellulose Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
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  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 84 vegetarian sausages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 84th. 96% of the vegetarian sausages 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 84 vegetarian sausages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600412702, 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.