Is Ragu Old World Style Sauce Flavored with Meat ultra-processed?

677 g Meat-based pasta sauces Sold in the United States

Pack of Ragu Old World Style Sauce Flavored with Meat

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed meat-based pasta 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

tomato puree (water, tomato paste), soybean oil (processing marker), ground beef, salt (processing marker), sugar (processing marker), dehydrated onions, extra virgin olive oil (processing marker), romano cheese (processing marker) (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt (processing marker), enzymes), spices, natural flavor (ultra-processing marker)

As written on the pack

tomato puree (water, tomato paste), soybean oil, cooked ground beef, salt, sugar, dehydrated onions, extra virgin olive oil, romano cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), spices, 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.

  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 36 meat-based pasta sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 17th. 56% of the meat-based pasta 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 meat-based pasta sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0036200003008, last edited 29 June 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.