Is Aldi Chicken Breast ultra-processed?

235 g Cooked chicken Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Dextrose
Glucose
Maltodextrin
E451 Triphosphates

8 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score A

Less processed cooked chicken

Frozen chicken drumsticks Moy park 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
half butter basted chicken to go M&S 3 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
British chicken drumsticks Birchwood Farm 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Japanese Style Chicken Curry with rice Myprotein 23 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

chicken breast fillet 97%, Tapioca Starch (processing marker), Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), D-Xylose, Maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Stabiliser (Triphosphates (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E451 Triphosphates

As written on the pack

CHICKEN BREAST FILLET (97%), Tapioca Starch, Dextrose, D-Xylose, Maltodextrin, Salt, Stabiliser: Triphosphates.

What makes it ultra-processed

Cosmetic additives

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.

Substances rarely used in home kitchens

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.

2 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 78 cooked chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 63rd. 79% of the cooked chicken here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 78 cooked chicken, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4061463801739, last edited 27 July 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.