Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Tomato, red pepper &lentil soup ultra-processed?

400g Vegetable soups Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Tomato, red pepper &lentil soup

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:

  • 12 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegetable soups

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 33%, Water, Lentils 14%, Carrots, Red Pepper 7%, Onion, Modified Maize Starch, Sugar, Garlic Purée, Salt, Basil, Black Pepper

As written on the pack

Tomato (33%), Water, Lentils (14%), Carrots, Red Pepper (7%), Onion, Modified Maize Starch, Sugar, Garlic Purée, Salt, Basil, Black Pepper.

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.

  • 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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 226 vegetable soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 113th. 52% of the vegetable soups 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 226 vegetable soups, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00121279, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.