Is Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo ultra-processed?

12 oz Vegetarian sausages 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:

Colour
Dextrose
Glucose

15 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegetarian sausages

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, textured vegetable protein (low fat soy flour), soybean oil (processing marker), paprika, sea salt (processing marker), vinegar, caramel (color (ultra-processing marker)), dextrose (ultra-processing marker), malodextrin (to preserve freshness), spices, red pepper, garlic powder

As written on the pack

water, textured vegetable protein (low fat soy flour),soybean oil, paprika, sea salt, vinegar, caramel (color), cultured dextrose and malodextrin (to preserve freshness), spices, red pepper, garlic powder

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.

Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

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.

Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.

2 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.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 84 vegetarian sausages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 19th. 96% of the vegetarian sausages 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 84 vegetarian sausages, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00924634, last edited 31 August 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.