Is Sainsbury's Pimento stuffed olives ultra-processed?

800g Stuffed olives 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:

Thickener
E401 Sodium alginate
E412 Guar gum

12 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed stuffed olives

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

Green Olives 46%, Water, Pimento Paste 12% (Water, Pimento, Thickeners (ultra-processing marker) (Sodium Alginate (ultra-processing marker)), Guar Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Salt (processing marker), Acidity Regulators (Lactic Acid), Citric acid

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E330 Citric acid , E401 Sodium alginate , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

Green Olives (46%), Water, Pimento Paste (12%) (Water, Pimento, Thickeners: Sodium Alginate, Guar Gum), Salt, Acidity Regulators: Lactic Acid, Citric acid

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.

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.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

1 ingredient 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 9 stuffed olives

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 56% of the stuffed olives 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 9 stuffed olives, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01830798, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.