Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Hoisin Dipping Sauce ultra-processed?

290 g Hoisin sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Hoisin Dipping Sauce

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed hoisin 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, sugar, soy bean 12% (soya bean, salt, wheat flour, water), modified maize starch, colour (plain caramel), sesame oil 0.5%, acidity regulator (acetic acid), star anise, five spice powder (tangerine, fennel, szechuan pepper, star anise, clove, coriander seed, cardamom seed, cumin seed, cinnamon powder), stabiliser (xanthan gum), salt

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E260 Acetic acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Water, sugar, fermented soy bean 12% (soya bean, salt, wheat flour, water), modified maize starch, colour (plain caramel), sesame oil 0.5%, acidity regulator (acetic acid), star anise, five spice powder (tangerine, fennel, szechuan pepper, star anise, clove powder, coriander seed, cardamom seed, cumin seed, cinnamon powder), stabiliser (xanthan gum), salt.

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • 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.
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 15 hoisin sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 87% of the hoisin 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 15 hoisin sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054269746976, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.