Is Trader Joe's Sriracha sauce ultra-processed?

19.25 oz Hot sauces 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:

Dextrose
Flavouring
Glucose
E415 Xanthan gum

14 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed hot sauces

Mexican hot sauce Salsa Tamazula S.A. De C.V. 7 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Salsa Picante Valentina 6 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce Frank's RedHot 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
16000085 Tabasco Pepper Sauce Mc. Ilhenny Co. 3 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

red chili peppers, water, sugar (processing marker), garlic, salt (processing marker), garlic, dextrose (ultra-processing marker) (for freshness), vegetable extract (potato), natural flavor (ultra-processing marker), vinegar, citric acid, xanthan gum (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum

As written on the pack

Ground red chili peppers, water, sugar, ground garlic, salt, garlic powder, cultured dextrose (for freshness), vegetable extract (potato), natural flavor, vinegar, citric acid, 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.

E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 184 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 164th. 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 184 hot sauces, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00508285, last edited 2 February 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.