Is Sainsburys Vegetable biryani ultra-processed?

Microwave meals Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

Salt

42 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score A

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Vegetables 65% (Onion, Butternut Squash, Cauliflower, Red Pepper), Cooked Basmati Rice (Water, Basmati Rice, Onion, Peas, Rapeseed Oil, Mint, Salt (processing marker), Cardamom Pod, Cardamom, Bay Leaf, Clove, Mace, Saffron), Tomato Paste, Rapeseed Oil, Coriander Leaf, Garlic Purée, Mint, Salt (processing marker), Coriander, Ginger, Cumin, Green Chilli, Turmeric, Fenugreek, Paprika, Spirit Vinegar, Nigella, Chilli, Cinnamon, Ginger Powder, White Pepper, Clove, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Bay Leaf

As written on the pack

Vegetables (65%) (Onion, Butternut Squash, Cauliflower, Red Pepper), Cooked Basmati Rice (Water, Basmati Rice, Onion, Peas, Rapeseed Oil, Mint, Salt, Cardamom Pod, Cardamom, Bay Leaf, Clove, Mace, Saffron), Tomato Paste, Rapeseed Oil, Coriander Leaf, Garlic Purée, Mint, Salt, Coriander, Ginger Purée, Cumin, Green Chilli Purée, Turmeric, Fenugreek, Paprika, Spirit Vinegar, Nigella Seeds, Chilli Powder, Cinnamon, Ginger Powder, White Pepper, Clove, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Bay Leaf.

What makes it processed

Culinary ingredients

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.

Category rules

Open Food Facts puts every product in this category in at least this group.

Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 350 microwave meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 67th. 72% of the microwave meals 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 350 microwave meals, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00248877, 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.