How to choose a jarred sauce by what is in it

Choose a jarred sauce by its ingredients list, not its flavour name. In a good tomato sauce, tomato comes first and sugar is nowhere near the top. Then check salt per 100g: 0.3g or less is low and above 1.5g is high. For creamy or cheese sauces, check saturates too: above 5g per 100g is high.

That works on every jar on the shelf, own label or branded, and it takes less time than reading the serving suggestion.

What should the ingredients of a pasta sauce look like?

Short, and led by vegetables. Ingredients have to be listed in descending order of weight, so the first two or three tell you what most of the jar is. For a tomato sauce you want tomatoes, or tomatoes and tomato purée, at the front, followed by things you would recognise from your own kitchen: onion, garlic, herbs, olive oil.

There is a second rule worth using. When a jar names an ingredient, or makes a feature of it in words or pictures, the label has to give the amount as a percentage. So a tomato sauce must tell you how much tomato it contains, and a roasted vegetable sauce must tell you how much roasted vegetable. There are exceptions, the main one being ingredients used in small amounts for flavouring, so a herb in the name may not get a percentage. If the hero ingredient on the label turns out to be a small percentage, you know what you are paying for.

Is there sugar in jarred pasta sauce?

Often a little, and the ingredients list is where you find it. Some ready made soups, stir in sauces and ready meals can be higher in sugar than you think, and the same goes for some takeaway curry sauces.

The number on the panel needs care. Tomatoes contain their own sugars, and the of which sugars figure counts everything, natural and added together. So a jar with no added sugar will still show some. What you want to know is whether sugar has been added, and for that you read the list. Sugar near the top is the warning. It can hide under other names: glucose, dextrose, honey, fruit juice concentrate and treacle are all on the NHS list of names for added sugar.

On a front of pack label, sugars go red above 22.5g per 100g. A savoury sauce can sit well below that and still have sugar added, so for a pasta sauce the ingredients list is the more useful check.

How much salt is too much in a sauce?

Above 1.5g per 100g is high, and 0.3g or less is low. Most of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, around three quarters of it, and adults are advised to keep to 6g a day in total.

The jar’s own portion is worth a second look. Front of pack percentages are worked out on a portion the company chose, so a jar that says it serves four may serve two in your house. Half the servings means double the salt per plate. The per 100g column is the one that lets you compare jars fairly.

What about creamy, cheese and pesto sauces?

Check saturates per 100g. On a front of pack label, 1.5g or less is low and above 5g is high. Cream, cheese, butter and coconut cream are all foods high in saturated fat, so a sauce built on them can climb quickly. The BDA’s advice for anyone trying to eat more vegetables includes cutting down on butter, cream and cheese sauces, because vegetables are low in calories and what you eat them with decides how many end up on the plate.

None of that puts a pesto off limits. Red on a label means high in that nutrient, not banned. It is a reason to use a spoonful rather than half the jar.

What do light and reduced mean on a jar?

At least 30 per cent less of something than a similar product, and the jar must say what. Light and reduced follow the same rule. A light sauce can be lower in fat and no lower in salt, so read the line that says what has been reduced, then look at the rest of the panel anyway.

Does a jarred sauce count towards 5 A Day or plant points?

It can count towards both. The NHS includes shop bought pasta sauces among the ready made foods whose fruit and vegetables count, while saying some are high in salt, sugar and fat and are best eaten occasionally or in small amounts.

For plant points, count what is in the jar. A sauce with tomato, onion, garlic and basil gives you two whole points and two quarters, if you haven’t already had those plants that week. A sauce with tomato and nothing else you can name gives you one.

Is it better to make my own?

Not always, and not if it means you end up with a takeaway instead. A good jar is a perfectly reasonable Tuesday. But a tin of chopped tomatoes, an onion and some garlic is most of a pasta sauce, and it puts you in charge of the salt and sugar. A few dried herbs add quarter points as well.

If you want to go further with the labels, traffic light labels explained covers the colours in full and how to read an ingredients list goes through a list line by line. If you are wondering whether a jar counts as ultra processed, how to spot ultra processed food deals with that.

To see how quickly you can read a jar now, try the label test.