Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Salt & Pepper Chips ultra-processed?

Chips and fries Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Salt & Pepper Chips

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 7 additives

Less processed chips and fries

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

Potato 86%, Sunflower Oil 6%, Modified Potato Starch, Sea Salt 2.5%, Black Pepper Seasoning 2.5% (Sea Salt, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sugar, Black Pepper, Bell Pepper, Onion Powder, Parsley, Rapeseed Oil), Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Salt, Dextrin, Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Diphosphates (Paprika Extract), Turmeric Extract

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E1400 Dextrin , E160c Paprika extract , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Potato (86%), Sunflower Oil (6%), Modified Potato Starch, Sea Salt and Black Pepper Seasoning (2.5%) (Sea Salt, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sugar, Black Pepper, Bell Pepper, Onion Powder, Parsley, Rapeseed Oil), Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Salt, Dextrin, Dextrose, Thickener:Xanthan Gum: Raising Agents: Sodium Bicarbonate, Diphosphates: Paprika Extract, Turmeric 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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • 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.

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.
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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,586 chips and fries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1475th. 65% of the chips and fries 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 1,586 chips and fries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00471763, last edited 8 August 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.