Is bagged salad ultra-processed?
Group 1. The packaging is not the test.
Bagged salad is group 1, and it is probably the clearest case on this site of packaging being mistaken for processing.
Why washing and gas do not count
The leaves are washed, dried, cut and sealed. Every one of those removes or rearranges, and none of them adds. The bag is usually filled with a modified atmosphere, generally more nitrogen and less oxygen, to slow the leaves respiring. That is a gas around the food rather than an ingredient in it, and NOVA does not count it.
Some producers use a chlorine wash, which is regulated and rinsed. It is a cleaning step rather than an addition, in the way that washing a potato is.
What is a different question
- Included dressing sachets: usually group 4, so a bag with one is two products.
- Salad kits with croutons, dressing and a topping: the leaves stay group 1, the kit does not.
- Prepared salad bowls with grains, cheese and dressing: judge by the components.
This is a useful one for reading a receipt, because a till line for a salad kit and a line for a bag of leaves can look nearly identical while being different answers. How a receipt is structured covers why the name alone rarely settles it.
Working this out from a receipt is harder than from a packet, because a till prints about twenty characters of product name and no ingredients list. That is the problem Bagged exists to solve, and how a receipt is structured explains why it is the hard part.
Common questions
- Does the gas in the bag make it processed?
- No. Modified atmosphere packaging surrounds the food rather than being added to it, so it does not move the classification.
- Is pre-cut fruit ultra-processed?
- No. Cutting and packing removes and rearranges without adding, so pre-cut fruit is group 1. Fruit in syrup is group 3.
One photo of a receipt answers this for your own shopping.
Bagged reads every line and reports what share of your food spend was ultra-processed, and which items it was.
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