Is Applegate Naturals Pork & Beef Uncured Pepperoni ultra-processed?

5 oz Prepared meats Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Dextrose
Glucose
E160c Paprika extract

11 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score E

Less processed prepared meats

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

Pork, sea salt (processing marker), contains less than 2% of the following (dextrose (ultra-processing marker)), celery powder, spices, paprika, paprika extract (ultra-processing marker), garlic, lactic acid starter culture (not from milk)

Additives: E160c Paprika extract

As written on the pack

Pork**, sea salt. contains less than 2% of the following: dextrose, celery powder, spices, paprika, paprika extract, garlic, lactic acid starter culture (not from milk).

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.

E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.

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.

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.

Prepared meats Products in the category "Prepared meats" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 882 prepared meats

From least to most processed, this one ranks 559th. 73% of the prepared meats 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 882 prepared meats, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0025317128612, last edited 22 March 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.