Is Wattie's Baked Beans in Rich Tomato Sauce ultra-processed?

420 g Baked beans in tomato sauce Sold in New Zealand and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E1412 Distarch phosphate
E412 Guar gum
E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose

13 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed baked beans in tomato sauce

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

navy beans 51%, tomato sauce (processing marker) 49% (tomatoes 41%, sugar (processing marker), salt (processing marker), wheat flour, maize thickener (1412), 412, 466, spices, flavours (ultra-processing marker), citric acid)

Additives: E1412 Distarch phosphate , E330 Citric acid , E412 Guar gum , E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E1412 Distarch phosphate, E412 Guar gum, E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose.

As written on the pack

navy beans (51%), tomato sauce (49%) (tomatoes (41%), sugar, salt, wheat flour, maize thickener (1412), stabilisers (412, 466), spices, flavours, food acid (citric 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.

E1412 Distarch phosphate Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose Carboxymethyl cellulose is a thickener made by chemically modifying cellulose from wood or cotton.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

3 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.
Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 114 baked beans in tomato sauce

From least to most processed, this one ranks 99th. 82% of the baked beans in tomato sauce 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 114 baked beans in tomato sauce, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9400547002634, last edited 22 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.