Surprised by how few ingredients are in Dolmio?

[Lonutay]

I just had a look at the ingredients list for Dolmio, and it looks like there's no nasties in it at all. That being said, I suppose it still counts as a UPF? Can it still be really bad for you if the ingredients are all natural ingredients?

Ingredients
Tomatoes (80%), Double Concentrated Tomato Paste (8.3%), Onion, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Sunflower Oil, Basil, Garlic, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Parsley, Spice, Herb

Plus yes, the salt and sugar levels

I like the M&S Everything Tomato sauce Ingredients
Tomatoes (79%), Sunflower Oil, Carrots, Onions, Tomato Purée, Celery, Rice Starch, Sugar, Garlic, Sea Salt, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Basil, Ground Black Pepper, Rosemary

make a lot of our own sauce with summer tomatoes but usually have a jar of this for quick supper

Nothing wrong with the odd jar of Dolmio, proper Bolognese takes too long to cook from scratch on a weekday. It needs to cook for as long as possible.

Perhaps it's just me but when I'm making anything with tomatoes it needs either sugar or Worcestershire sauce to cut through their acidity

That one is definitely not a UPF. Processed yes but not UPF. Looks like a much better choice.

Oh come on, give over with the recipes, if you're cracking open a dolmio it's because you don't want to cook - and as barely cooking goes, that doesn't seem too bad to me op.

Modified maize starch isn’t cornflour - it’s been modified to change the properties
Yes that is true, my mistake, but my comment to Bobbybiscuits us still true. They don't want modified Corn Starch in their tomato sauce but it is nearly everywhere and they'll be eating in shop bought bread, in soups, crisps etc.

I’ve just eaten an entire pack of cheese strings, a dollop of Dolmio wouldn’t bother me.

I don’t mind knocking a year or two off my life expectancy to enjoy myself. My grandmother is almost 98 and is very vocal that living to a ripe old age is actually quite shite.

Dolmio is made by Mars. Interesting company. Family owned private business.

It is UPF. Sunflower oil is UPF.

I think I would call it processed rather than ultra processed. In my opinion, it’s a better choice than one with lots of preservatives and additives. Of course if you have time to make your own that would be better still but we all have busy lives. Just do the best you can.

We get the Heinz ones or Loyd Grossman when on offer. Costs hardly anything more than a decent tin of tomatoes, possibly less when you include the cost of cooking.

It’s MN everyone has to virtue signal at all times, especially when it comes to food.

Citric acid is what is in lemon juice.

I always put lemon in mine it makes it sweeter.

I go for Crosta and Mollica when it's on offer https://www.crostamollica.com/products/pasta-and-sauces/sugo-al-pomodoro

Ingredients
Tomatoes 90%, extra virgin olive oil, onions, carrots, basil 1.2%, sea salt.

seems fine to me

Also wonder how many people who preach on here about UPF will secretly eat a box of Jaffa cakes when no one is watching?

Me!!! Although not so secretly.
All this year I have really cut down on upf and Ben making my own bread, sauces, yogurts, cheese etc and it has made a huge positive difference to my life. However every now and again I'll get some fig rolls. I could easily make my own but they are so good as an impulse buy!

This is Mumsnet, where anything in a packet/jar is automatically a UPF! I once saw a poster claim that Radishes were a UPF because they come in a little plastic bag! And when I said that I grow my own veg, slice it and freeze it, she said once it's frozen, it becomes a UPF! 🤨😆😆😆

Maize is corn and citric acid comes from citrus fruits! 🤦‍♀️🤣🤣🤣🤣

How? Please explain

It comes from CORN!!! 🌽

How embarrassing for you

These are the Heinz ingredients. I expect the pearl clutchers will still declare it UPF because it's in a jar!

Ingredients
Tomato (67%), Tomato Puree, Onion, Celery, Carrot, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt, White Wine Vinegar, Garlic, Apple Juice Concentrate, Basil, Laurel, Rosemary, Thyme, Black Pepper

Yes but 'modified' means it's been processed in some way.

I don't cry myself to sleep over Dolmio. It's still substantially made out of normal ingredients.

I'm not spending an hour plus doing the home made version properly every time. Annoyingly my sensory autistic child is more likely to turn his nose up more the more effort I put into wholesome, nutritious food as there's more variation of taste and texture to offend him, so sometimes he'll get more nutrition from eating the somewhat processed food than the wholesome food he picked at.

Tinned tomatoes are a useful ingredient but they're rank when little is done to them (flashbacks to acidic tinned tomatoes plonked folornly on soggy toast being a supposed dinner as a child 🤢 I went hungry those nights!)

It is, however jars of sauce are not for people wanting to avoid upfs.