Is Sainsbury's North Indian style karahi ultra-processed?

Curry sauces 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:

Modified starch
E160c Paprika extract

31 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed curry 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

Water, Tomato, Tomato Paste, Rapeseed Oil, Dried Onion, Ginger 2.5%, Butter (processing marker) (Cows' Milk), Sugar (processing marker), Garlic Purée, Modified Maize Starch (ultra-processing marker), Coriander, Cumin, Salt (processing marker), Turmeric Powder, Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker), Chilli, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Cumin Seed, Ginger Powder, Cinnamon Powder, Fenugreek Seed, Black Pepper, Chilli, Fenugreek Leaf, Cardamom, Clove, Nutmeg, Fenugreek, see ingredients with

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Water, Tomato, Tomato Paste, Rapeseed Oil, Dried Onion, Ginger Purée (2.5%), Butter (Cows' Milk), Sugar, Garlic Purée, Modified Maize Starch, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Salt, Turmeric Powder, Paprika Extract, Chilli Powder, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; Cumin Seed, Ginger Powder, Cinnamon Powder, Fenugreek Seed, Black Pepper, Chilli Flakes, Fenugreek Leaf, Cardamom Powder, Clove Powder, Nutmeg, Fenugreek Powder. Allergy advice: For allergens, see ingredients with

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.
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.

Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
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 89 curry sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 61st. 67% of the curry 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 89 curry sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063334005559, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.