Is Waitrose Pimiento stuffed green olives in brine ultra-processed?

Stuffed olives Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Firming agent
Thickener
E401 Sodium alginate
E412 Guar gum

12 ingredients
4 additives

Less processed stuffed olives

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

Pitted hojiblanca ollves 46%, water, pimiento 10% (pimiento, thickeners (ultra-processing marker) (sodium alginate (ultra-processing marker), guar gum (ultra-processing marker)), firming agent (ultra-processing marker) (calcium chloride)), salt (processing marker), acidity regulator (lactic acid)

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E401 Sodium alginate , E412 Guar gum , E509 Calcium chloride

As written on the pack

Pitted hojiblanca ollves (46%), water, minced pimiento (10%) (pimiento, thickeners (sodium alginate and guar gum), firming agent (calcium chloride)), salt, acidity regulator (lactic acid)

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.

E401 Sodium alginate A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

1 ingredient 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 9 stuffed olives

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 56% of the stuffed olives 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 9 stuffed olives, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169153253, last edited 27 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.