Compound ingredients (chutney, curry paste, seasoning powders) チャツネ・カレーペースト・調味パウダーなど（複合原材料）

How it appears on labels

Labeling rules

• A compound ingredient is basically written as its name followed by parentheses listing its contents in order of weight, heaviest first. When there are three or more contents, those from the third onward that are each under 5% can be grouped as “その他” (other) (Article 3 of the Food Labeling Standards).
• The contents in the parentheses can be left out when the compound ingredient is under 5% of the whole product, or when the contents are obvious from the name (also Article 3, and the Consumer Affairs Agency's Q&A). Labels that say only “チャツネ” (chutney) or “カレーペースト” (curry paste) are thought to follow this rule.
• Even when the contents are omitted or grouped as “その他” (other), ingredients that are subject to allergen labeling still have to be written. The Consumer Affairs Agency's Q&A (E-20) shows how to write it when an allergen that must be labeled is among the contents grouped as “その他” (other).
• Chuno sauce (“中濃ソース”, medium-thick sauce) is a name with a rule in the Food Labeling Standards (Appended Table 3). Among the Worcestershire-type sauces, which are brown liquid seasonings made by adding sugars, vinegar, salt, and spices to pressed juice or puree of vegetables and fruits, it is the one with a viscosity of 0.2 Pa·s or more and less than 2.0 Pa·s. Below 0.2 it is Worcestershire sauce (ウスターソース), and at 2.0 or above it is thick sauce (濃厚ソース).
• The Food Labeling Standards (Appended Table 3) define “乾燥スープ” (dried soup) as follows: stock from meat (including poultry), fish and shellfish, vegetables, etc., with seasonings, sugars, edible fats and oils, spices, etc. added, dried into powder, granules, or solid form, and which becomes a soup when water or hot water is added. There is no naming rule for “ブイヨン” (bouillon) or “チキンブイヨンパウダー” (chicken bouillon powder).

Good to know

• Chutney is generally a seasoning made by cooking down fruits and vegetables. Mirepoix is a cooking term for aromatic vegetables such as onion, carrot, and celery, chopped and sautéed. In both cases, the recipe cannot be known from the label.
• Among the curry roux on this site, chutney is in 4 products and curry paste (including “ソテーカレーペースト”, sautéed curry paste) is in 5 products, and none of them lists the contents.
• Some seasoning powders also give only a name, with nothing in parentheses. On this site, they are the “ソースパウダー” (sauce powder) in S&B Foods' “ゴールデンカレー” (Golden Curry); the “粉末ソース” (powdered sauce) and “香味野菜風味パウダー” (aromatic-vegetable-flavored powder) in House Foods' “こくまろカレー” (Kokumaro Curry); the “クリーミングパウダー” (creaming powder) in “バーモントカレー” (Vermont Curry); and the “肉風味調味パウダー” (meat-flavored seasoning powder) in Ajinomoto's “丸鶏がらスープ” (Marudori Gara Soup, whole-chicken-bone soup stock). The contents cannot be told from any of these names.
• What the “〇〇” in “〇〇風味” (“…-flavored”) refers to (the meat or vegetable itself, an extract, or a flavoring) also cannot be told from the label unless the contents are written in parentheses. Flavorings, which are food additives, are written separately after the slash (／) in the ingredient list. As for liquids, the “肉風味調味液” (meat-flavored seasoning liquid) in Ajinomoto KK's “コンソメ” (consommé) does not say what kind of meat or what the contents are.
• The explanation in the Standard Tables says that most solid bouillon and granulated dashi are foods made by extracting stock from natural ingredients, drying it, and adding salt, umami seasonings, and so on. For the “チキンブイヨンパウダー” (chicken bouillon powder) in House Foods' “シチューミクス（クリーム）” (Stew Mix (Cream)), what is in it besides chicken stock cannot be told from the label either, because the contents in parentheses are not written.

Products on this site that contain it

Product pages are in Japanese for now; each one reads every ingredient on the label.

Related pages

• Ingredient: Vegetables and fruits (grated, puree, juice)
• Products on this site: Curry and stew roux

Sources

• Food Labeling Standards (Cabinet Office Ordinance No. 10 of 2015) — e-Gov Japanese Law Search
• Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards (revised March 28, 2025) — Consumer Affairs Agency
• Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (8th revised edition, 2023 supplement) — MEXT

Sources are in Japanese unless noted otherwise. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.

Other ingredients in this group

• Tomato paste / tomato purée
• Vegetables and fruits (purée, juice)
• Enoki mushroom