Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Waitrose Hot salmon and rice salad ultra-processed?

Prepared salads Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Hot salmon and rice salad

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:

  • 77 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed prepared salads

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

Cooked rice 22% (water, rice, sugar, spirit vinegar, rice vinegar, salt, rapeseed oil, fructose-glucose syrup, cane molasses), yuzu kosho coleslaw 16%, sweetheart cabbage, savoy cabbage, carrot, mayonnaise (rapeseed oil, water, free range egg, egg yolk, sugar, salt, spirit vinegar, lemon juice from concentrate, preservative (potassium sorbate), antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA), colour (paprika extract)), yuzu kosho (yuzu, green chilli, salt), hot smoked salmon 14% (salmon (Salmo salar), sea salt, demerara sugar), cucumber 12% (cucumber, salt), zesty miso dressing 12% (rapeseed oil, water, rice vinegar, sugar, soya beans, salt, lemon juice, rice, free range egg, egg yolk, chilli puree, spirit vinegar, alcohol, cornflour, sesame seed oil, lemon juice from concentrate, ginger, onion, lime juice concentrate, garlic puree, garlic, cayenne pepper, preservative (potassium sorbate), antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA), colour (paprika extract)), red quinoa 11% (water, red quinoa), shelled edamame beans 8%, baby spinach 4%, white sesame seeds, black sesame

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E202 Potassium sorbate , E385 Calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate

As written on the pack

Cooked rice (22%) (water, rice, sugar, spirit vinegar, rice vinegar, salt, rapeseed oil, fructose - glucose syrup, cane molasses), yuzu kosho coleslaw (16%) (sweetheart cabbage, savoy cabbage, carrot, mayonnaise (rapeseed oil, water, pasteurised free range egg and egg yolk, sugar, salt, spirit vinegar, lemon juice from concentrate, preservative (potassium sorbate), antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA), colour (paprika extract)), yuzu kosho (yuzu peel, green chilli, salt)), hot smoked salmon (14%) (salmon (Salmo salar) (fish), sea salt, demerara sugar), salted cucumber (12%) (cucumber, salt), zesty miso dressing (12%) (rapeseed oil, water, rice vinegar, sugar, soya beans, salt, lemon juice, rice, pasteurised free range egg and egg yolk, chilli puree, spirit vinegar, alcohol, cornflour, sesame seed oil, lemon juice from concentrate, ginger puree, onion puree, lime juice concentrate, garlic puree, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, preservative (potassium sorbate), antioxidant (calcium disodium EDTA), colour (paprika extract)), cooked red quinoa (11%) (water, red quinoa), shelled edamame beans (8%) (soya), baby spinach (4%), white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds.

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.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • 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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
7 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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 224 prepared salads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 184th. 60% of the prepared salads 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 224 prepared salads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5035272216878, last edited 19 March 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.