Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Thai Dragon Sweet Chilli Sauce ultra-processed?

Hot sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Thai Dragon Sweet Chilli 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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed hot 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

Sugar, Water, Red Chilli 20% (Chilli, Salt, Acidity Regulator (Acetic Acid)), Distilled Vinegar (Water, Acidity Regulator (Acetic Acid)), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Garlic, Salt, Thickener (Modified Starch, Xanthan Gum)

Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Sugar, Water, Pickled Red Chilli 20% (Chilli, Salt, Acidity Regulator (Acetic Acid)), Distilled Vinegar (Water, Acidity Regulator (Acetic Acid)), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Garlic, Salt, Thickener (Modified Starch, Xanthan Gum).

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.

  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
  • 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.
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 185 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 172nd. 70% of the hot 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 185 hot sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5020580017057, last edited 14 April 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.