Is Trader Joe's Chicken Shu Mai ultra-processed?

11 oz Meals with chicken Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten
E415 Xanthan gum

35 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score B

Less processed meals with chicken

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

chicken, onions, carrots, green onions, whole wheat flour, sugar (processing marker), sesame oil (processing marker), salt (processing marker), garlic, ginger, white pepper, flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, wheat gluten (ultra-processing marker), soy sauce (processing marker) (water, soybeans, salt (processing marker), sugar (processing marker), alcohol, vinegar, lactic acid), sugar (processing marker), water, rice vinegar, lactic acid, citric acid, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker), natural flavor of capsicum

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

chicken, onions, carrots, green onions, whole wheat flour, sugar, sesame oil, salt, garlic, ginger, white pepper, unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, wheat gluten, soy sauce (water, soybeans, salt, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, lactic acid), sugar, water, rice vinegar, lactic acid, citric acid, xanthan gum, natural flavor of capsicum

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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.

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.

Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.

5 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.

Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 213 meals with chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 118th. 79% of the meals with chicken 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 213 meals with chicken, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00461894, last edited 14 May 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.