Is Tesco Korma Cooking Sauce 500G ultra-processed?

500 g Curry 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:

Whey
Modified starch

27 ingredients
1 additive
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, Tomato Purée, Single Cream, Sugar (processing marker), Desiccated Coconut 4%, Coconut Cream 3.5% (Coconut, Water), Modified Maize Starch (ultra-processing marker), Rapeseed Oil, Whey Powder (ultra-processing marker), Dried Onion, Ginger, Salt (processing marker), Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid), Fennel, Coriander, Dried Garlic, Ginger, Cumin, Coriander, Cardamom, Turmeric, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Dried Fenugreek Leaf

Additives: E270 Lactic acid

As written on the pack

Water, Tomato Purée, Single Cream (Milk), Sugar, Desiccated Coconut (4%), Coconut Cream (3.5%) [Coconut, Water], Modified Maize Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Whey Powder (Milk), Dried Onion, Ginger Purée, Salt, Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid), Fennel, Coriander, Dried Garlic, Ginger, Cumin, Ground Coriander, Cardamom, Turmeric, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Dried Fenugreek Leaf

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.

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.

Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.

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 89 curry sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 54th. 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 5050179080056, 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.