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

Could be worse as you say, all bets are off with a small baby though! The Heinz ones don't taste amazing but the ingredient list reads like something you would make at home.

Yeah, I agree. And I think it's this enthusiasm to dismiss the shades of grey along the way between an entirely home spun offering and billy bear ham 😁 in favour of a black and white, good vs junk, approval system that makes the zeal around discussions on upfs feel like its the new toy of resident orthorexics.

It’s the modified aspect that tips it into ultra processed. It changes the properties of corn so that it behaves differently in the body. People either care about that or they don’t, but that’s chemistry 🤷🏼‍♀️

Not to mention the discussion of all UPF as if they're one ingredient with one proven mechanism of harm.

As you say, no shades of grey at all.

Corn syrup (made from corn) is really bad for you.

Yeah, a shame as I thought we were heading towards a useful comparison of pasta sauces and which were better than others.

Of course they’re all ‘processed’ - heating a raw tomato is a process. That’s fine. Including one or two ultra processed INGREDIENTS might make the whole jar considered UPF in the strictest sense, but nobody surely thinks that a jar of sauce is as ultra processed as a Turkey Twizzler.

Some jars ARE better than others - funnily enough tomato pasta sauce has been an item compared in a few articles.

We just prefer Dolmio - yeah I can make my own but it is watery where the Dolmio is thicker. We don't eat bolognese very often and cook from scratch for most meals so I can't get too excited about a couple of random ingredients.

I had an argument with a friend recently when I said I’d used a jar of sauce. Horrified, she trotted out her lovely recipe and said “it’s just as quick”.

Well it’s not, is it. If I want a quick pasta I’ll spend the two quid and take the two second route, cheers Nigella.

This doesn’t answer the OPs question in the slightest.

But it does give you an opportunity to show how talented and dedicated a cook you are, so well done you I guess?

It is a shame that any thread like this ends up with people just arguing and being snippy. Some people are just not open to any type of discission, they just eant to shout their point across without ever stopping to hear what others may have to contribute. It could be a really useful tool for people to find out a bit more about the different levels of processed food and how to still eat a healthy diet
As I said earlier just because something has 1 UPF ingredient in its make up doesn't automatically make The end product UPF.

According to the OpenFoodFacts app, it’s Nova 3 - so processed but not ultra-processed.

@somethinggotmestarted any supermarket brand.

I do fry onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots and blend it in to the tomato's though and add some tomato purée. I also brown the min win beef stock.

I was just offering a simpler version

Surely every Mumsnetter worth her (non processed obvs) salt would steer well clear of maize starch.

Because in mumsnet land where everything has to be black and white it’s basically the same as eating a bucket of KFC or a massive bag of Haribo.

It’s crazy isn’t it. And you just know that in five years time the people banging on about UPFs now will have found a new bandwagon to jump on.

I don't care about UPF. I do care that I have never yet found a jar of sauce that I actually enjoy the flavour of.

And just as quick never includes all the washing up that follows from someone firing around the kitchen demonstrating how quickly they can chop, grate, crush and squeeze all the ingredients at lightning pace.

Jar, open, empty, bin. No evidence.

Have you tried an alternative to jarred sauce?

Heinz pasta sauces are 100% natural ingredients as well

Strangely I find the lidl passata in the box the least acidic, it's my go-to now. If I want chunks I get Neapolitana on offer.

You mean making my own? Yes. I have also tried fresh shop bought sauces.

Sometimes it would be easier to just be able to use premade except I can't stand how chemical they all taste to me. There is obviously something in the processing to create storage life that my palate can still detect.

Not what she asked though, is it?

Some people (lots of them) get home at around 6 or 6.30 and have roughly an hour or so to feed, bathe, talk to, do homework with their children.

Sometimes those people need to feed them quickly and efficiently.

Please can we stop demonising things which make parents lives easier. It doesn’t make you morally superior to know how to make a simple tomato sauce, it means you, for whatever reason, have more time. Good for you. Some people don’t.

It's only on mn you'd demonize pasta sauce

You know, being used to make a meal

Ffs

A lot of jar and tin items don't need to be so processed for shelf life as they are sealed and sterile as part of the packaging.

This one is a lot less appealing though. https://www.ocado.com/products/dolmio-intensify-mild-creamy-garlic-black-pepper-pasta-sauce-610729011?utmsource=google&utmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=21516703562&utmcontent=non-brand&gadsource=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr9m3BhDHARIsANut04Z-hnOWXc16qFvqV1-vrC73wyqzu2JohBRh5T5pQYs2wNANLID2bkaAin3EALwwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds