Is Taste of India Tikka Masala Cooking Sauce ultra-processed?

500 g Tikka masala sauce 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:

E160c Paprika extract

49 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed tikka masala sauce

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 15%, tomato purée 12%, onions 10%, low fat natural yogurt 6%, single cream 4%, curry paste (rapeseed oil, water, sugar (processing marker), onion, concentrated lemon juice, salt (processing marker), coriander, ground ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, paprika, cassia, garlic powder, cumin seeds, fennel, ground cloves, chilli, fenugreek, acetic acid, black pepper, black onion seeds), maize starch (processing marker), sugar (processing marker), rapeseed oil, lemon juice from concentrate, dried onion, coriander, cumin, salt (processing marker), coriander, garlic purée, ginger, lactic acid, paprika extract (ultra-processing marker), turmeric, cardamom, chilli, paprika, fenugreek, cassia, fenugreek

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E260 Acetic acid , E270 Lactic acid

As written on the pack

water, 15% tomatoes, 12% tomato purée from concentrate, 10% onions, 6% low fat natural yogurt, 4% single cream (milk), curry paste (rapeseed oil, water, sugar, onion purée, concentrated lemon juice, salt, coriander, ground ginger, ground cumin, ground coriander, cardamom, paprika, ground cassia, garlic powder, cumin seeds, ground fennel, ground cloves, chilli powder, ground fenugreek, acidity regulator: acetic acid, black pepper, black onion seeds) , maize starch, sugar, rapeseed oil, lemon juice from concentrate, dried onion, coriander, ground cumin, salt, ground coriander, garlic purée, ginger purée, acidity regulator: lactic acid, colour: paprika extract, turmeric, cardamom, chilli powder, paprika, dried fenugreek, ground cassia, ground fenugreek,

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.

3 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 20 tikka masala sauce

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 90% of the tikka masala sauce 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 20 tikka masala sauce, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 20015824, last edited 20 September 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.