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Is Tesco Low fat tikka masala cooking sauce ultra-processed?

500 g Tikka masala sauce Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Low fat tikka masala cooking 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:

  • 34 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

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, tomato 10%, tomato purée onion, modified maize starch, single cream, 7e coriander, sugar, whey powder, rapeseed oil, coriander, concentrated lemon juice, salt, ginger, garlic purée, cumin, acidity regulators (lactic acid, acetic acid), colour (paprika extract), onion, chilli, ground ginger, cardamom, paprika, cassia, garlic, cumin seed, fennel, clove, fenugreek, black pepper, black onion seed allergy advice for allergens, 500ge

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

As written on the pack

water, tomato (10%), tomato purée onion, modified maize starch, single cream (milk) (7e coriander, sugar, whey powder (milk), rapeseed oil. ground coriander, concentrated lemon juice, salt. ginger purée, garlic purée, ground cumin, acidity regulators (lactic acid, acetic acid), colour (paprika extract), onion purée. chilli powder, ground ginger. ground cardamom, paprika, ground cassia, garlic powder, cumin seed, ground fennel, ground clove, ground fenugreek, black pepper, black onion seed allergy advice for allergens, see ingredients in bold. suitable for vegetarians 500ge

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.

  • 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 20 tikka masala sauce

From least to most processed, this one ranks 16th. 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 5057753159030, 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.