Is Waitrose Sweet Chilli Sauce ultra-processed?

Hot sauces 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:

Colour
Modified starch

10 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed hot sauces

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

Sugar (processing marker), water, spirit vinegar, chilli 6%, garlic, salt (processing marker), modified tapioca starch (ultra-processing marker), sunflower oil (processing marker), colour (ultra-processing marker) (paprika extract)

As written on the pack

Sugar, water, spirit vinegar, chilli (6%), garlic, salt, modified tapioca starch, sunflower oil, colour (paprika extract) ALLERGY ADVICE: May contain sesame

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.
Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

4 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.
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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 184 hot sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 99th. 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 5000169624463, last edited 19 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.