Is Sainsbury's Baked Beans ultra-processed?

200g Baked beans in tomato sauce Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Modified starch
E160c Paprika extract

12 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score A

Less processed baked beans in tomato sauce

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

Haricot Beans 51%, Tomatoes 35%, Water, Sugar (processing marker), Modified Maize Starch (ultra-processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Onion, Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker), Paprika Powder, Flavouring (ultra-processing marker), Onion Oil, Garlic Extract

Additives: E160c Paprika extract

As written on the pack

Haricot Beans (51%), Tomatoes (35%), Water, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Onion Powder, Paprika Extract, Paprika Powder, Flavouring, Onion Oil, Garlic Extract

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.

E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
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 114 baked beans in tomato sauce

From least to most processed, this one ranks 72nd. 82% of the baked beans in tomato sauce 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 114 baked beans in tomato sauce, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00358477, last edited 5 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.