Fakeaway cooks avoiding added sugar
For a curry, pizza-style sauce or pasta dish, check the ingredients for added sugar as well as reading the sugars figure in the nutrition table.
Who these choices suit
Cooks planning a longer-simmered sauce
If texture matters to the recipe, a finely chopped tomato may be worth considering. Mutti describes its Polpa as suitable for long cooking; check whether that form suits your dish.
Cupboard stockers
If you use chopped tomatoes regularly, compare the ingredients and the number of tins in a pack before choosing between single tins and multipacks.
What to check when choosing
Start with the ingredients and like-for-like nutrition figures, then choose a tomato texture that works for the sauce you intend to make.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Added sugar | Read the ingredients for sugar, syrups or sweeteners. The sugars figure in the nutrition table does not identify which sugars were added. | I want to season my tomato sauce myself rather than assume a lower nutrition figure means nothing was added. |
| Comparable labels | Compare sugars and salt per 100g, not a per-serving figure on one tin against a per-100g figure on another. Read any traffic-light colours alongside the numbers. | I use pack labels to compare tins. In a Food Standards Agency and Ipsos Northern Ireland survey of 611 people interviewed from September to November 2024, 49% said they actively used traffic-light labels when shopping for food; that figure is not specific to tinned tomatoes. |
| Sauce texture | Check whether the tomatoes are chopped or finely chopped, and allow for any simmering your recipe calls for. Mutti describes Polpa as suitable for long cooking; Napolina advises gently simmering its chopped tomatoes. | For a pizza-style sauce, I may prefer a finer tomato base; for another dish, I might be happy to simmer chopped tomatoes. |
| Salt | Compare salt on the same per-100g basis as sugars. Tesco Groceries and Sainsbury’s list 0.07g salt per 100g for their plain chopped examples; Mutti lists 0.30g for Polpa. | Even when I am concentrating on added sugar, I want to see how the salt figures differ between tins. |
Common buying mistakes
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Reading the sugars figure as an ingredients list
Plain tomato tins can list sugars in their nutrition tables without naming sugar in their ingredients.
Check the ingredients for sugar, syrups or sweeteners, then use the per-100g sugars figure to compare tins.
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Comparing different portion sizes
A half-can figure and a per-100g figure describe different amounts of food, so they are not a like-for-like comparison.
Compare sugars and salt per 100g first; use the serving information when planning your recipe.
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Choosing by sugars alone
Mutti lists 2.8g sugars and 0.30g salt per 100g for Polpa. Its finely chopped form may also suit a different sauce texture from a chopped tin.
Check salt and tomato form alongside sugars before deciding which tin fits the dish.
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Assuming opened tins have the same storage instructions
Sainsbury’s says to transfer leftovers to a suitable non-metallic container, refrigerate and use within two days; Marks & Spencer gives three days for its Italian Tomatoes.
Follow the instructions on your particular tin when storing leftovers.
Brand and product references
These figures describe the named products, not every tomato tin made or sold by each brand.
Tesco
Tesco Groceries lists Grower's Harvest Chopped Tomatoes 400G as a plain tomato-and-juice option.
- Its listed ingredients are tomato, concentrated tomato juice and citric acid; the nutrition table gives 3.8g sugars and 0.07g salt per 100g.
- Check the current can label if its recipe or nutrition information matters to your choice.
Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's Chopped Tomatoes Can 400g is another plain chopped option for a sauce base.
- Sainsbury's lists tomatoes, concentrated tomato juice and citric acid, with 3.5g sugars and 0.07g salt per 100g.
- For leftovers from this product, Sainsbury's specifies a suitable non-metallic container, refrigeration and use within two days.
M&S
Marks & Spencer lists Italian Tomatoes 400g as chopped tomatoes in tomato juice.
- The product lists 2.5g sugars and 0.10g salt per 100g; its ingredients are Italian chopped tomatoes, tomato juice and citric acid.
- Marks & Spencer says to move opened contents to a non-metallic container, refrigerate and consume within three days.
Napolina
Napolina's plain Chopped Tomatoes 400G provide a chopped base that cooks can season themselves.
- Tesco Groceries lists tomatoes and citric acid as ingredients, with 3.6g sugars and 0.10g salt per 100g.
- Napolina suggests a gentle simmer and onion or carrot to balance sharpness; this is the brand's cooking advice, not a comparison of finished sauces.
Mutti
Mutti describes Polpa as finely chopped tomatoes for sauces, including dishes cooked for longer.
- Mutti lists tomato and salt as ingredients, with 2.8g sugars per 100g.
- Its listed salt is 0.30g per 100g, compared with 0.07g per 100g for the Tesco and Sainsbury's plain examples.
Joybuy chopped tomato options
These options include a single tin of chopped tomatoes, finely chopped Mutti tomatoes and two Napolina multipack sizes for fakeaway sauce recipes.
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Mutti Finely Chopped Tomatoes 4 x 400g
Consider the finely chopped format if your fakeaway recipe calls for a finer tomato base. The pack contains four 400g tins; compare the can's sugars, salt and ingredients with other options before choosing.
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KTC Chopped Tomatoes 400g
This single tin offers chopped tomatoes for a sauce made from scratch. Read its ingredients and per-100g sugars and salt figures, and follow the can's instructions for any leftovers.
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Napolina Chopped Tomatoes 4 x 400g
A four-tin pack suits recipes that call for chopped tomatoes across several meals. Napolina suggests gently simmering chopped tomatoes when making a sauce; check the label before deciding whether its ingredients and nutrition figures suit your recipe.
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Napolina Chopped Tomatoes 6 x 400g
This six-tin pack is an option if you use chopped tomatoes in several recipes. Plan around the 400g tin size, and check the label for ingredients, per-100g nutrition and storage instructions.
Questions about tinned tomatoes
Does a lower sugars figure mean no sugar was added?
No. The nutrition table gives a sugars figure, while the ingredients list is where to check whether sugar or sweeteners are named. Plain tomato products can have different sugars figures without naming sugar in their ingredients.
What does a low-sugars figure mean on a food label?
The NHS describes 5g sugars or less per 100g as low in sugars for food. That threshold does not tell you whether sugar was added, so check the ingredients and compare salt and tomato texture for your recipe too.
Can I soften a tomato sauce's sharpness without adding sugar?
Napolina advises gently simmering chopped tomatoes and using onion or carrot to balance sharpness. This is the brand's cooking guidance; adjust the method to the flavour and texture you want.
How should I store tomatoes left over from an opened tin?
Follow that product's label. Sainsbury's instructs shoppers to transfer its chopped tomatoes to a suitable non-metallic container, refrigerate and use within two days; Marks & Spencer specifies a non-metallic container, refrigeration and consumption within three days for its Italian Tomatoes.