Is Trader Joe's Korean Japchae Fried Rice ultra-processed?

228 g Vegetable soups 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:

Fructose

26 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegetable soups

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

White rice, sweet potato glass noodles (water, sweet potato starch (processing marker)), soy sauce (processing marker) (water, soy, sea salt (processing marker), wheat), sugar (processing marker), corn syrup, fructose (ultra-processing marker), yeast extract, black pepper, shiitake mushroom, carrot, onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, green cabbage, spinach, green onion, garlic, canola oil, sesame oil (processing marker), salt (processing marker)

As written on the pack

White rice, sweet potato glass noodles (water, sweet potato starch), soy sauce (water, defatted soy grits, sea salt, wheat), sugar, corn syrup, fructose, yeast extract, black pepper, shiitake mushroom, carrot, onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, green cabbage, spinach, green onion, garlic, canola oil, sesame oil, salt. Contains soy, sesame, wheat.

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.

6 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.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
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 226 vegetable soups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 127th. 52% of the vegetable soups 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 226 vegetable soups, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00797320, last edited 1 June 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.