Is Sharwoods Butter Chicken ultra-processed?

420 g Curry sauces Sold in the United Kingdom, France and Germany

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour
Milk proteins
Modified starch
E160c Paprika extract

25 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, Tomatoes 19%, Rapeseed Oil, Tomato Purée 4%, Modified Maize Starch (ultra-processing marker), Cream, Fried Onion 3% (Onions, Rapeseed Oil), Onion, Sugar (processing marker), Salted Butter (processing marker) 2.5%, Ginger, Spices, Salt (processing marker), Garlic Purée, Whey Protein (ultra-processing marker) (from Milk), Acid (Citric Acid), Dried Fenugreek Leaf, Coriander, Caraway Seeds, Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Water, Tomatoes (19%), Rapeseed Oil, Tomato Purée (4%), Modified Maize Starch, Cream (Milk), Fried Onion (3%) (Onions, Rapeseed Oil), Onion, Sugar, Salted Butter ( 2.5%) (Milk), Ginger Purée, Ground Spices, Salt, Garlic Purée, Whey Protein Concentrate (from Milk), Acid (Citric Acid), Dried Fenugreek Leaf, Coriander, Caraway Seeds, Colour (Paprika Extract). May also contain sesame.

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.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.

Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.

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 74th. 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 5000354203695, last edited 29 July 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.