Is Tesco Jalfrezi Cooking Sauce ultra-processed?

Cooking Sauces Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Firming agent

67 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed cooking 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

hot ingredients tomato purée 30%, water, onion 13%, pepper 12%, tomato, curry paste, cornflour, lemon juice from concentrate, curry, rapeseed oil, coriander, sugar (processing marker), chilli, salt (processing marker), coriander, cumin, acidity regulator (lactic acid), firming agent (ultra-processing marker) (calcium chloride), pepper contains (red pepper), green pepper, curry paste contains (rapeseed oil), water, sugar (processing marker), onion, concentrated lemon juice, salt (processing marker), coriander, ground ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, paprika, cassia, garlic, cumin seed, fennel, clove, chilli, fenugreek, acidity regulator (acetic acid), black pepper, black onion seed, curry contains (coriander), fenugreek, cumin seed, rice flour, salt (processing marker), mustard seed, turmeric, chilli, paprika, ginger, fennel, garlic, cassia, bay leaf, nutmeg, black pepper, clove, onion, nutriti % of a iar ter of a jar tains ergy 195kj

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E270 Lactic acid , E509 Calcium chloride

As written on the pack

hot ingredients tomato purée (30%), water, onion (13%), pepper (12%), tomato, curry paste, cornflour, lemon juice from concentrate, curry powder, rapeseed oil, coriander, sugar, dried chilli, salt, ground coriander, ground cumin, acidity regulator (lactic acid), firming agent (calcium chloride). pepper contains: red pepper, green pepper. curry paste contains: rapeseed oil, water, sugar, onion purée, concentrated lemon juice, salt, coriander, ground ginger, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cardamom, paprika, ground cassia, garlic powder, cumin seed, ground fennel, ground clove, chilli powder, ground fenugreek, acidity regulator (acetic acid), black pepper, black onion seed. curry powder contains: coriander, fenugreek, cumin seed, rice flour, salt, mustard seed, turmeric, chilli, paprika, ginger, fennel, garlic powder, cassia, bay leaf, nutmeg, black pepper, clove, onion. allergy advice for allergens, see ingredients in bold. suitable for vegetarians nutriti % of a iar ter of a jar tains ergy 195kj /

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.

Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.

2 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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 36 cooking Sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 67% of the cooking 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 36 cooking Sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5050179080322, last edited 19 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.