Awareness
4 min · 215 words
📅 Feb 20254 minNoNgs Editorial

10 Popular Foods That Secretly Contain Onion or Garlic

That instant soup, your favourite chips, even some 'plain' masalas — you'd be shocked what hides inside packaged food labels.


When you're following a Jain diet or avoiding onion and garlic for any reason, reading food labels becomes a survival skill.

Here are 10 foods that commonly contain hidden onion or garlic:

1
Instant Soups & Noodles

Most instant soups use onion powder and garlic powder as base flavour enhancers.

2
Ready-Made Pasta Sauces

Almost every Italian-style pasta sauce contains garlic.

3
Salad Dressings & Mayonnaise

Most commercial mayonnaises use garlic powder.

4
Flavoured Chips & Namkeens

Flavoured variants almost always contain onion and garlic powder.

5
Restaurant Dal & Curries

Even "Jain food" at restaurants may use base gravy made with onion and garlic.

6
Packaged Masala Mixes

Generic masalas nearly always contain dried onion and garlic.

7
Bouillon Cubes & Stock Powders

These almost universally contain onion and garlic.

8
Soy Sauce & Asian Sauces

Most contain garlic or onion as a flavouring ingredient.

9
Frozen Parathas & Breads

Frozen aloo parathas often have onion mixed into the stuffing.

10
"Natural Flavours" on Labels

Can legally include onion and garlic extracts.

What to look for on labels: - Onion, dried onion, onion powder, dehydrated onion - Garlic, dried garlic, garlic powder, garlic extractive - "Natural flavours" (verify separately) - Any mention of "allium"

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