Unprocessed Eats · last updated 19 October 2026
Nachos without the unnecessary extras
PhaseFood 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.
Ready-Made Nachos Cannot call it
We can't call this one. 6 of the 7 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.
Salsa No clean option: make it yourself
0/9 salsa options passed.
- 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. 23 of the 24 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.
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 vegetable oil. This isn’t a NOVA guideline, read our stance here.
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Mexicano Lightly Salted Corn Chips
Ingredients: Corn, Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed or Sunflower), Natural Sea Saltcontains rapeseed; sunflower; unspecified vegetable oil. This isn’t a NOVA guideline, read our stance here.
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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. This isn’t a NOVA guideline, read our stance here.
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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Whitestone Cheese Co Totara Tasty Cheese
Ingredients: Pasteurised Cows Milk, Salt, Microbial Rennet, Culturesfermented 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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Mainland Tasty Aged Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients: Milk, Salt, Cultures (Milk), Enzyme (Animal Rennet)fermented and salted
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 PhaseFood checks the shelf
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 obtained from food or nature, such as olive oil, salt or honey. Group 3 combines Group 1 foods with Group 2 ingredients, 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. Added sugar does not fail on its own — it caps a product at amber with a note. We read the retailer's published ingredients panel and print it verbatim so you can check our working.
Why is plain sugar amber rather than green?
Plain sugar is a single ingredient, not an additive: under NOVA it is a group 2 culinary ingredient, like salt or olive oil. So a bag of sugar is amber here, and a product whose only flagged ingredient is sugar is amber too, labelled “contains added sugar” or “high in added sugar” when sugar is among the first three ingredients. It is never green, and PhaseFood recipes are written without refined sugar. Honey and pure maple syrup are minimally processed culinary ingredients and can replace it in some recipes, but both are still free sugars—not sugar-free choices.
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. That placement is contested, though: the seed oils on supermarket shelves are heavily refined, and nutritionists and dietitians do not agree on where they should sit on the NOVA scale. So we 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.
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
Every make-it-yourself recipe is a one-off NZ$2 downloadable PDF. No subscription needed.
Try it with your own meal