Household Ingredients Compared  ›  Canned Tomatoes (Singapore)

Canned tomatoes: what's actually in it?

The short answer is: usually tomatoes, and very little else — but the packing liquid and the firming agent are where brands split. Italian brands in this page mostly pack in tomato juice (or, for Mutti, in tomato juice/puree) with salt or citric acid at most. American brands in this page — Hunt's, Del Monte and S&W — routinely add calcium chloride as a firming agent as well as citric acid. And the flavoured cans are a different category: once basil, garlic, onion or chilli enters the list, sugar often enters with it.

This page does not give a health score, a ranking, or a "best" pick. It shows the ingredient list as printed, flags added sugar, salt, citric acid and calcium chloride, and says whether the tomatoes are in juice, puree or water as printed, so you can compare like with like.

Scope note — read this first. Tomato passata in bottles/cartons and ready-made pasta sauce are not merged into this page: pasta sauce already has its own page. Where a product below is a carton rather than a tin, it is flagged as such and is not counted as a canned panel (see the seen-but-not-verified list). Tomato puree/paste in cans/tins is included, because the brief for this page includes it.

The headline, in 30 seconds

• Whole peeled (pelati) is the cleanest split on the page. Mutti Pelati and Strianese pelati list only tomatoes and tomato juice — no salt, no citric acid, no calcium chloride in the lists quoted here. Cirio Pelati, by contrast, lists citric acid. Del Monte and S&W whole peeled list both citric acid and calcium chloride.
• Chopped/diced is where calcium chloride appears. Hunt's and Del Monte diced list calcium chloride; Cirio, Strianese, Coppola and Biona chopped do not list it in the lists quoted here — they list citric acid (Cirio, Coppola) or neither (Strianese, Biona).
• Tomato content percentages are not printed for every can. Where a percentage is printed (for example Cirio chopped 65%, Coppola peeled 60%, Biona chopped 60%, Mutti Polpa 99.8%), this page quotes it. Where no percentage is printed, this page does not invent one — "tomatoes" without a percentage is not the same claim as "tomatoes 99.8%".
• Added sugar is rare in plain canned tomatoes, common in flavoured ones. No plain panel below lists added sugar. The flavoured panels that do — Cirio Polpa Fine with Basil / with Onion & Garlic in the seen list, Heinz Basil-Oregano in the seen list, and the seasoned American diced variants — are the exception, and they are flagged as such rather than panelled as plain.
• The biggest gap in this page is the Singapore pack check. Several panels below rest on a brand-official or retailer list from another market because the FairPrice Singapore product page retrieved for that product showed a description but no ingredient section in the text fetch. Those panels are flagged "SG pack not verified" and must be checked against a Singapore pack before any publish step. Nothing here should be read as "the Singapore can definitely says this" unless the panel says the Singapore source was found.

At a glance

Prices are deliberately not shown here: they change weekly and would go stale. This site compares ingredients only. "No" for added sugar means no sugar/sucrose/glucose/fructose syrup appears in the quoted list — it does not mean the tomatoes contain no natural sugars.

Whole peeled tomatoes (pelati)

Whole, peeled, packed whole. The difference here is not the tomato — it is what else is in the can.

Chopped / diced / crushed tomatoes

Same tomatoes, cut up. Chopped and diced are the same idea under different brand vocabularies — "polpa" (Italian), "diced" (American), "chopped" (British/Italian). Crushed (Hunt's) is a step finer, between diced and puree. Do not assume a chopped can and a diced can from different countries share a list: this is exactly where calcium chloride divides the page.

Cherry / small tomatoes in cans

Whole small tomatoes, packed the same way as pelati — in juice, with or without citric acid depending on brand.

Flavoured canned tomatoes

Only one flavoured can is panelled as verified here, because it is the only flavoured variant whose list was retrieved from a brand/retailer source without a conflict — and even it is flagged as non-SG. The rest of the flavoured range (Cirio Polpa with basil/garlic/chilli, Hunt's seasoned diced, Napolina garlic/herbs, Heinz basil-oregano) is in the seen-but-not-verified list, not panelled, for the reasons given there. Do not read the plain panels above as covering their flavoured siblings: flavoured cans add sugar, onion, garlic or herbs, and their lists are different products.

Tomato puree / paste in cans and tubes

Concentrated tomato, not tomatoes in juice. "Double concentrated" and "triple concentrated" are concentration levels, not brand claims: triple is more concentrated than double. A tube is not a can, but Mutti's pastes are sold in Singapore in tube form (FairPrice lists both), so they are panelled here as the paste row for this page, flagged as tubes. Jarred paste/puree and passata in cartons are out of scope for this page (see "what this page is not").

Seen but not verified — do not panel until checked:

• Ayam Brand Chopped Tomatoes 380g — listed on Shopee Singapore and Ayam Brand Malaysia; described as 100% European tomatoes, no added salt, no added sugar, no colouring, no flavouring, no preservatives, no added MSG. No verbatim ingredient list was found in this re-audit either, so it is not panelled — the "no added salt/sugar" claims are marketing claims, not a quoted list. Note: the Malaysian format is a 380g carton, not a can, so even a Malaysian list would need a format check before use as a canned-tomato panel.
• Mutti Cherry Tomatoes / Baby Roma (Datterini) — lists exist elsewhere (Cherry Tomato, Tomato Juice; Datterini Tomatoes, Tomato Juice), but no Singapore-facing listing for these variants was found on the FairPrice SG Mutti page in this pass, so they are not panelled as SG products here.
• Cirio Polpa (tin) with Basil / Garlic / Chilli / Herbs, 400g — listed on Cirio's own product page as tin formats, but full ingredient lists for the tin versions were not retrieved; only the carton Polpa Fine versions were found with full lists (see next item).
• Cirio Polpa Fine (carton, 390g) — Plain, Basil, Chilli, Onion & Garlic — full lists were found (Plain: Chopped Tomatoes 65%, Tomato Paste, Salt, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; Basil: Chopped Tomatoes 65%, Tomato Paste, Onion, Salt, Sugar, Basil 0.7%, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; Onion & Garlic: Chopped Tomatoes 65%, Tomato Paste, Onion 7%, Garlic 2%, Salt, Sugar, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid). These are not panelled because they are tetra cartons, not cans/tins, and no Singapore-facing listing for them was found in this pass. Note the pattern they show: unlike plain Cirio Polpa, the flavoured Polpa Fine versions do list added sugar — but that pattern must be verified on a Singapore tin/carton before it is stated as a Singapore finding.
• Coppola Polpa + Garlic — an Open Food Facts list for this variant gives only "Peeled tomatoes (60%), tomato juice, salt, citric acid" with no garlic named, which cannot be trusted as the garlic variant's list. Needs a pack check; not panelled.
• Coppola Marzanino (small peeled plum tomatoes) — list exists elsewhere (Peeled Marzanino tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, acidity regulator: citric acid), but no Singapore-facing listing was found in this pass. Not panelled as SG.
• Strianese Peeled Datterini / Peeled Cherry Tomatoes; Strianese Tomato Paste Puree (FairPrice listing name) — listed at FairPrice Singapore / Chloe Eats SG, but no ingredient section was retrieved for these variants. Not panelled.
• Hunt's Crushed Tomatoes; Hunt's Diced with Basil, Garlic & Oregano; Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced; Hunt's No Salt Added Diced — US lists exist (crushed: Unpeeled Tomatoes, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Citric Acid; seasoned diced adds sugar, spices, basil, oregano, garlic powder; no-salt-added diced omits salt but keeps citric acid + calcium chloride). No Singapore-facing listing for these variants was found in this pass, so they are not panelled as SG. The seasoned variants are the clearest added-sugar examples in the American range — verify on an SG can before quoting them as SG products.
• Del Monte seasoned / stewed variants (e.g. with Basil, Garlic & Oregano; Italian Recipe Stewed with onion, celery, green pepper) — US lists exist and the stewed version lists sugar. No Singapore ingredient section retrieved. Not panelled.
• S&W Ready-Cut Diced / Italian Recipe Tomatoes — US list exists (Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Citric Acid, Calcium Chloride, Oregano, Basil, Thyme). No Singapore-facing listing retrieved for the diced variant (only whole peeled and paste were found at SG retailers). Not panelled.
• Heinz Chopped Tomatoes; Heinz Finely Chopped; Heinz Basil-Oregano Chopped — UK lists exist (plain: Tomatoes 99.8% (Chopped, Juice), Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; finely chopped: Tomatoes 99.7% (Chopped, Juice), Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Sea Salt; basil-oregano: Tomatoes 80%, tomato juice, basil 1%, sugar, oregano 0.1%, food acid (citric acid)). No specific Singapore-facing listing for Heinz canned tomatoes was found in this re-audit either (5 November 2026 — FairPrice searches return Heinz ketchup, baked beans and baby food, not canned tomatoes), so Heinz is not panelled as SG here despite the UK lists being available. This remains the largest brand gap on this page — an in-store Cold Storage / FairPrice Finest check is the fix.
• Napolina Chopped / Peeled Plum / Garlic / Herbs / Cherry Tomatoes — UK lists exist (plain chopped: Chopped Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; garlic: Chopped Tomatoes (65%), Tomato Juice, Sugar, Garlic Powder (0.3%), Garlic Extract (0.2%), Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; herbs: plus oregano/basil extracts and sugar). Only a Shopee SG listing for Napolina Double Concentrate Tomato Puree tube was found — no SG listing for Napolina canned tomatoes, re-checked 5 November 2026. Not panelled as SG.
• Valfrutta Chopped / Peeled Plum / Organic Chopped — lists exist elsewhere (chopped: Chopped tomatoes (65%), tomato juice, acidity regulator: citric acid; peeled: Peeled tomatoes, tomato juice, acidity regulator: citric acid; organic chopped: Organic chopped tomatoes (65%), organic tomato juice, acidity regulator: citric acid). No current Singapore-facing listing was found in this re-audit either (5 November 2026; only a 2021 FairPrice promotion for a Valfrutta sieved sauce, which is passata, not canned tomatoes). Not panelled as SG.
• LITALY Whole Peeled Tomatoes 400g and LITALY Tomatoes Puree 690g — FairPrice Singapore lists both (Italy); the Whole Peeled key information says only “nothing else than tomatoes and tomato juice in each can: no additives or preservatives”, which is a description, not a verbatim ingredient list, and no list was retrieved for the puree. Not panelled; the chopped can is panelled above.
• Grangusto Whole Red Datterino and Whole Orange Datterino Tomatoes in Tomato Juice 400g — listed at FairPrice Singapore and Wholesome Harvest Singapore in this re-audit; no ingredient lists were retrieved for either colour in this pass. Do not copy the yellow datterino list across — the tomatoes differ by colour/variety. Not panelled.
• Lena Chopped Tomato 2.55kg — FairPrice Singapore lists this catering-size tin; no ingredient list was retrieved. Catering size, not a standard retail can — recorded here, not panelled as a retail row.
• San Marzano via Shopee SG importers — La Carmela DOP, Italiavera PDO, Litaly, Rodolfi — listed on Shopee Singapore / Chloe Eats listings, but no ingredient lists were retrieved for these brands in this pass. Not panelled.
• Kagome tomato paste (Japan, via Shopee SG / Donki) — mini sachets (18g × 6) list "Tomato (imported)" and a 500g listing is described as pure tomato paste, but these are sachets/jars for baby food and general cooking, not standard retail cans, and no can-format SG pack list was verified. Not panelled; do not merge Kagome juice (a drink, not a canned tomato) into this page.
• Alce Nero Organic Chunky Tomato Puree 500g (FairPrice SG) — listed at FairPrice Singapore, but this is a puree/jar-style product, not a canned tomato as scoped here, and no ingredient section was retrieved. Not panelled.
• Giant, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage, Don Don Donki, Meidi-Ya, Le Petit Depot, Little Farms and RedMart in-store ranges; Lazada SG canned-tomato listings beyond those above — not inventoried online in this pass. Cold Storage and Giant/Sheng Siong online category pages were not retrievable as ingredient sources in this pass, so any canned tomatoes stocked only there are missing from this page, not proven absent from Singapore. An in-store check is needed before claiming completeness.

Nutrition — what the numbers say

How to read this section. Salt = sodium × 2.5. Sodium is shown as printed, with the salt equivalent in brackets. Where a source printed salt only, sodium is shown as salt ÷ 2.5 and flagged with †. Figures are per 100g or per 100ml wherever the source gives per-100 figures. Where a source gives per serving only, the row is quoted exactly as per serving and flagged "per serving, not per 100g/ml" in the Basis column — it is not converted, and it must not be compared directly with a per-100 row. Sugars here are total sugars as printed on the pack, not added sugars: most Singapore packs list total sugars, and the ingredient list on this page remains the evidence for whether sugar was added. No Nutri-Grade has been assigned and no health score or ranking is given. A dash (—) means that column was not stated in the source used, not zero.

As sold, per the sources in the research notes. Basis flag that matters on this page: figures below are for the total contents of the can as printed by the source, not for drained weight, unless the source says otherwise — no source used here gave a drained-weight panel, so no drained-weight figure is quoted and drained weight must not be assumed to match total contents. Among the tabled rows, total sugars range from 2.72 g per 100 g (Hunt’s Diced) to 3.4 g per 100 g (Cirio Chopped, 65% + juice + citric acid listing). Sodium ranges from 4 mg per 100 g (Cirio Chopped, as printed — see the salt flag below) to 165 mg per 100 g (Hunt’s Diced). Those are observed numbers only, not a verdict or a ranking. None of the tabled plain cans lists added sugar, so the sugars figures are the tomatoes’ natural sugars as printed.

Sources and flags: Mutti Polpa from Tesco/Ocado UK listings (retailer, non-SG; the ingredient panel is likewise flagged SG pack not verified). Mutti Polpa with Basil from a McGrocer retailer listing giving the same per-100 g figures as plain Polpa — verify on the basil pack before treating the two as nutritionally identical. Cirio Chopped from a Regency Foods wholesale specification for the 2.5 kg format whose ingredient list (chopped tomatoes 65%, tomato juice, citric acid) matches the panelled list; its printed salt of 0.01 g per 100 g is very low and is quoted as printed, not adjusted — it must not be merged with Tesco’s Cirio Chopped listing, which is a different 99.8% tomatoes + salt product with salt 0.30 g and sugars 4.3 g per 100 g. Hunt’s Diced from a ConAgra technical data sheet (US, per 100 g). Del Monte Diced from USDA/Open Food Facts data for the plain salt version (US list, matching the panelled ingredient list; fat/saturated fat not stated in the source used). No drained-weight panel was found for any panelled can in this pass. † Sodium derived from printed salt (salt ÷ 2.5).

Seen but not verified (nutrition) — no verified nutrition panel was found in this pass for the following panelled products, so no figures are quoted for them here: Mutti Whole Peeled (Pelati); Mutti Whole Peeled San Marzano DOP; Mutti Double Concentrated Paste; Mutti Triple Concentrated Paste; Cirio Whole Peeled (Pelati); Cirio Cherry (Pomodorini); Strianese Peeled San Marzano DOP; Strianese Whole Peeled (non-DOP); Strianese Chopped; Strianese Double Concentrated Paste; Coppola Pelati Peeled Plum; Coppola Polpa Chopped; Coppola Cherry (Pomodorini); Hunt’s Tomato Puree (can); Del Monte Whole Peeled; S&W Whole Peeled; S&W Tomato Paste; Ayam Brand Tomato Puree (can); Biona Organic Chopped; Biona Organic Whole Plum Peeled; Biona Organic Chopped with Basil; Don Antonio Whole Peeled; Don Antonio Chopped; Don Antonio Cherry; LITALY Chopped; Global Organics Chopped; Global Organics Whole Peeled; Rosso Cilentano Chopped; Rosso Cilentano Cherry; Grangusto Whole Yellow Datterino. Note: an Open Food Facts listing for Del Monte Whole Peeled gives salt as effectively 0 g per 100 g despite salt being in its ingredient list; that figure is not used, and the product stays in this unverified list. Note also: FairPrice gives partial nutrition figures for Rosso Cilentano Chopped and Cherry (Energy 21 kcal, Fat 0.5 g, Protein 0.9 g; cherry also Carb 3.0 g, Sugar 3.0 g, Fibre 0 g) but states no basis (per 100 g? per serving?) and no sodium figure, so those figures are not tabled — a basis-less figure cannot be compared with the per-100 g rows above.

How to read an ingredient list — the jargon, in plain English

Pelati / Polpa / Pomodorini / Datterini

Italian names, not different ingredients. Pelati = whole peeled (usually plum) tomatoes. Polpa = chopped/crushed pulp. Pomodorini = cherry tomatoes. Datterini = small, elongated "date" tomatoes (Baby Roma). The name tells you the cut and size, not whether citric acid or calcium chloride was added — check the list.

Tomato juice vs tomato puree vs water (as the packing liquid)

Juice is the thin liquid pressed from tomatoes. Puree/paste is concentrated tomato (water removed). Water as a packing liquid means the tomatoes were packed in water, not in their own juice — none of the panelled whole/chopped cans above list water as the packing liquid, but Hunt's puree and Ayam puree do list water as part of the puree itself, which is a different thing. Always read whether water is the packing liquid or an ingredient of the puree.

Citric acid (E330) — acidity regulator

An acid added to keep the can safely acidic and to keep colour/flavour stable. It is not a preservative in the usual "keeps it from going off" sense on these labels, and it is not sugar. Its presence is the most common difference between otherwise identical Italian cans (Cirio/Coppola yes, Mutti/Strianese no, in the lists quoted here).

Calcium chloride — firming agent

A calcium salt added to keep diced/whole tomatoes firm so they hold their shape after canning and cooking. That is why it appears on diced and whole-peeled American cans (Hunt's, Del Monte, S&W) and not on chopped/pulp products, which do not need to hold a shape. It is not a preservative and not a flavouring in the usual sense, but it is a real added ingredient — a can that lists it is not "just tomatoes".

Double / triple concentrated (paste)

How much water has been evaporated from the tomato. Triple is more concentrated than double, so a smaller amount goes further. It does not mean more ingredients — Mutti's double and triple pastes both list only tomato and salt.

Tomato content %

Where printed (e.g. 65%, 60%, 99.8%), it is the share of that named tomato ingredient in the can, not the share of "tomato-derived ingredients" overall. A can that says "chopped tomatoes 65%, tomato juice" is still essentially all tomato — the other 35% is mostly tomato juice. Do not compare a 65% chopped figure with a 99.8% Polpa figure as if one were "more tomato" than the other: they are measuring different things.

DOP / PDO (San Marzano DOP)

Protected Designation of Origin: the tomatoes were grown and canned in a defined area (for San Marzano, the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino area in Campania) under defined rules. It is an origin certification, not an ingredient — a DOP can and a non-DOP can from the same brand can have the identical two-ingredient list, as Strianese's do here.

Added sugar

Sugar, sucrose, or syrup listed as an ingredient. Natural tomato sugars are not "added sugar", even though they appear on the nutrition panel as sugars. On this page, "added sugar: yes" is only used when sugar/sucrose appears in the quoted list.

What this page is not

• Not a health score, and not medical advice. Citric acid and calcium chloride are described by their label functions (acidity regulator, firming agent); this page does not claim they are harmful or harmless beyond that.
• Not a taste test, and not a price comparison. Prices change weekly; ingredients change less often, but still change.
• Not passata, and not pasta sauce. Passata in bottles/cartons (including Cirio Passata, Coppola Passata, Mutti Passata) and ready-made pasta sauces (including Mutti Parmigiano Reggiano / Basil sauces listed at FairPrice) are deliberately excluded from the panels, even though they sit on the same FairPrice category pages. They have their own pages/logic.
• Not complete. Heinz, Napolina and Valfrutta canned tomatoes, Ayam chopped, Cirio flavoured tins, Hunt's crushed/seasoned variants, LITALY whole peeled/puree, Grangusto red/orange datterino, and the Giant/Sheng Siong/Cold Storage/Donki/Meidi-Ya/Le Petit Depot/Little Farms/RedMart in-store ranges are not yet panelled, for the verification reasons given above, not hidden. Don Antonio, LITALY chopped, Global Organics, Rosso Cilentano and Grangusto yellow datterino were added in the 5 November 2026 re-audit — several of those panels rest on non-Singapore lists and still need Singapore pack checks. The 2.5kg/4kg catering sizes (Strianese, Mutti, Cirio) are also not treated as separate retail rows — they share the retail list as quoted, and that assumption needs a pack check.

Sources and method

Checked 5–6 November 2026 from: NTUC FairPrice Singapore brand and category pages (Mutti, Cirio, Coppola, Hunt's, Del Monte, S&W, Ayam Brand, Biona listings; ingredient sections where the text fetch returned them — Cirio Pelati and Strianese San Marzano DOP directly, others as listing-only); Chloe Eats Singapore (Strianese range, Mutti triple paste); Ayam Brand Singapore official site (tomato puree); ShopMustafa Singapore (S&W whole peeled and paste); Mutti official site (Polpa, Pelati); Cirio official site (Polpa, Pomodorini); Open Food Facts (S&W Singapore listing, Coppola, Biona cross-checks); and US/UK retailer listings (ShopRite, Food Lion, Tesco, Ocado) for Hunt's, Del Monte, Heinz, Napolina and Valfrutta lists, flagged as non-SG wherever used. Full per-fact source list is in the accompanying research notes. Where a full Singapore pack list could not be verified, the page says so instead of filling the gap, and where sources conflict (Strianese paste, Ayam puree, Coppola chopped percentage, Mutti basil percentages), the page flags the conflict on the page. Re-audit, 5 November 2026: FairPrice brand/category pages re-inventoried (Don Antonio, LITALY, Global Organics, Rosso Cilentano, Grangusto, Lena); FairPrice ingredient sections retrieved for Rosso Cilentano Chopped and Cherry; Wholesome Harvest Singapore (LITALY Chopped list), obbo.sg Singapore (Global Organics lists), Nocelle Foods Australia (Don Antonio lists) and ABC Foodservice (Grangusto yellow datterino list) used as flagged sources; Heinz/Napolina/Valfrutta and Ayam chopped re-checked with no Singapore-facing canned listing found.