Unprocessed Eats · last updated 4 September 2026
Nachos without the unnecessary extras
Unprocessed Eats ranks real supermarket products by the NOVA food-processing scale and fails anything whose label lists a numbered additive, added sugar, flavouring or emulsifier, so you can see the whole-food or minimally processed option for every ingredient in a meal.
The 7 ingredients a home cook buys for nachos, each with the cleanest real product on the shelf, and 1 where nothing passes and we give you the recipe instead.
Corn Chips Best option is minimally processed
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Mexicano Natural Corn Chips
Ingredients: Corn, Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed or Sunflower)contains rapeseed; sunflower; unspecified veg — our cap, not NOVA
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Mexicano Lightly Salted Corn Chips
Ingredients: Corn, Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed or Sunflower), Natural Sea Saltcontains rapeseed; sunflower; unspecified veg — our cap, not NOVA
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Proper Crisps Salted Stone Ground White Corn Tortilla Chips
Ingredients: Tortillas (Corn, Trace Of Lime), High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Sea Saltcontains sunflower — our cap, not NOVA
Black Beans Whole food available
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Ceres Organics Organic Black Beans
Ingredients: Certified Organic Black Beans 60%, Water
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Pams Black Beans In Brine
Ingredients: Black beans (61%), water, salt.several ingredients combined
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Chantal Organics Organic Black Beans
Ingredients: Black Beans (60%), Water, Sea Saltseveral ingredients combined
Cheddar Or Tasty Cheese Best option is minimally processed
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Dairyworks Tasty Natural Block Cheese
Ingredients: Pasteurised Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzyme (Non-Animal Rennet)fermented and salted
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Talbot Forest Vintage Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients: Pasteurised Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzyme (Non-Animal Rennet)fermented and salted
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Westminster Farmhouse English Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients: Pasteurized Cow's Milk, Starter Cultures, Salt, Rennet.fermented and salted
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Whitestone Cheese Co Totara Tasty Cheese
Ingredients: Pasteurised Cows Milk, Salt, Microbial Rennet, Culturesfermented and salted
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Mainland Tasty Aged Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients: Milk, Salt, Cultures (Milk), Enzyme (Animal Rennet)fermented and salted
Salsa No clean option: make it yourself
Nothing in this store passes for salsa. We read the label on all 6 products and every one carries an additive.
- Old El Paso Hot Chunky Salsa Dip: Chopped Tomatoes (53%), Water, Onion (11%), Tomato Paste (Tomato, Food Acid (Citric Acid)), Green Capsicum (7%), Salt, Vinegar, Coriander, Onion Powder, Guajillo Chilli (0.5%), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sugar, Cumin, Firming Agent (Calcium Chloride ), Food Acid (Citric Acid), Oregano, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Capsicum Extract
- Old El Paso Mild Chunky Salsa Dip: Chopped Tomatoes (53%), Water, Onion (11%), Tomato Paste (Tomato, Food Acid (Citric Acid)), Green Capsicum (7%), Salt, Vinegar, Coriander, Onion Flakes, Guajillo Chilli (0.5%), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sugar, Cumin, Firming Agent (Calcium Chloride ), Food Acid (Citric Acid), Oregano, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Capsicum Extract
- Old El Paso Medium Chunky Salsa Dip: Chopped Tomatoes (53%), Water, Onion (10%), Tomato Paste (Tomato, Food Acid (Citric Acid)), Green Capsicum (7%), Salt, Vinegar, Coriander, Onion Powder, Guajillo Chilli (0.5%), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sugar, Cumin, Food Acid (Citric Acid), Oregano, Firming Agent (Calcium Chloride ), Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Capsicum Extract
Sour Cream Cannot call it
We can't call this one. 17 of the 18 products we found fail on their labels, but 1 has no ingredients panel published online, so we won't claim there is nothing clean here.
Avocado Whole food available
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Loose Avocado
Fresh produce or meat, no ingredients panel needed.
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NZ Avocado Bag
Ingredients: Avocado
Lime Whole food available
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Limes Imported
Ingredients: LIME
How Unprocessed Eats works
What does "minimally processed" mean here?
We use the NOVA classification from the University of São Paulo. Group 1 is a whole food or one that has only been cleaned, cut, dried, frozen or pasteurised. Group 2 is a culinary ingredient pressed or extracted from a whole food, like olive oil, salt or honey. Group 3 is a few of those combined, like cheese or tinned beans in brine. Group 4 is ultra-processed. We show groups 1 to 3 and rank group 1 first.
What makes a product fail?
Any numbered additive on the label (colours, preservatives, acidity regulators, gums, modified starches, raising agents, flavour enhancers, sweeteners), plus anything named as a flavouring, emulsifier or lecithin, and added sugars. We read the retailer's published ingredients panel and print it verbatim so you can check our working.
Why is plain sugar marked as failing?
Because added sugar is one of the things the rule fails a product for, sugar as an ingredient fails too. Honey and pure maple syrup pass as group 2 culinary ingredients. This is a deliberate choice about what we recommend, not a claim that sugar is an additive.
What about seed oils like canola and sunflower?
Under NOVA a refined seed oil is a group 2 culinary ingredient, the same group as olive oil, so it does not make a food ultra-processed. We still cap any product containing canola, sunflower, soybean, rice bran, palm or unspecified vegetable oil at amber and say which oil it is, so you can decide. That cap is our position, not a research finding.
The prices didn't match my local store. Why is that?
Every price comes from a single supermarket on the date shown on the page, so there will be variation across other stores and regions, and prices move between our checks. Each product links to its page on the retailer's site for today's price, and services like grocer.nz show the price at your local store.
A product I use isn't in the list. Why is that?
If your product is a whole food or additive-free, it may be that it is not sold at general supermarkets, or not at the store we checked. If we have missed something, email us at hello@phasefood.com.
What does "nothing in this store passes" mean?
We only say it when we found the product category on the shelf, read the ingredients panel on every product in it, and every one failed. If any panel was missing or unreadable we say we cannot call it instead. Where nothing passes, PhaseFood gives you the recipe to make it yourself.
Does any brand pay to appear?
No. Products are ranked by how little has been done to the food, then by how few ingredients, then by price. No brand has paid for placement and none can.
Where nothing on the shelf passes, we give you the recipe
Your first five recipes are free with a PhaseFood account. We count recipes, not views.
Try it with your own meal