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Is Balanced Naked Chicken Katsu Bowl ultra-processed?

300g Meals with chicken Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Balanced Naked Chicken Katsu Bowl

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 90 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed meals with chicken

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

flame seared cooked chicken 15% (Chicken Breast, Dextrose, Corn Starch, Salt), katsu style dressing 15% (Water, Rapeseed Oil, Carrot, Onion, Coconut Milk, Garlic Purée, Light Brown Sugar (Sugar, Cane Molasses), Soy Sauce (Water, Soya Beans, Wheat, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Alcohol, Sugar), Sultanas, Lime Juice, White Miso Paste (Water, Rice, Soya Beans, Sea Salt, Alcohol), Acetic Acid, Lactic Acid, Salt, Sugar, Egg Yolk Powder, Modified Maize Starch, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Chloride, Apple Juice from Concentrate, Chicken Stock (Flavouring, Glucose Syrup, Salt, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Chicken Bones), Tapioca Starch, Coriander, Turmeric Powder, Cumin, Bay, Fennel, Black Pepper, Fenugreek, Cassia, Chilli, Potassium Sorbate, Garlic Powder, Gram Flour, Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Star Anise, Zinc, Niacin), White Cabbage, Carrot, red cabbage 10% (Red Cabbage, Sugar, Rice Vinegar, Spirit Vinegar, Water, Ginger, Soy Sauce (Water, Soya Beans, Wheat, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Alcohol, Sugar)), Edamame Beans, Green Lentils, Red Pepper, Spinach Leaves, Spring Onion, Turmeric Powder, Potassium Chloride, Salt

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E260 Acetic acid , E270 Lactic acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E508 Potassium chloride

As written on the pack

FLAME SEARED COOKED CHICKEN (15%) (Chicken Breast, Dextrose, Corn Starch, Salt), KATSU STYLE DRESSING (15%) [Water, Rapeseed Oil, Carrot, Onion, Coconut Milk, Garlic Purée, Light Brown Sugar (Sugar, Cane Molasses), Soy Sauce (Water, Soya Beans, Wheat, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Alcohol, Sugar), Sultanas, Lime Juice, White Miso Paste (Water, Rice, Soya Beans, Sea Salt, Alcohol), Acidity Regulators: Acetic Acid, Lactic Acid; Salt, Sugar, Pasteurised Egg Yolk Powder, Modified Maize Starch, Stabiliser: Xanthan Gum; Potassium Chloride, Apple Juice from Concentrate, Chicken Stock (Flavouring, Glucose Syrup, Salt, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Chicken Bones), Tapioca Starch, Ground Coriander, Turmeric Powder, Ground Cumin, Dried Bay Leaves, Ground Fennel, Ground Black Pepper, Ground Fenugreek, Ground Cassia, Chilli Powder, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate; Garlic Powder, Gram Flour, Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Ground Star Anise, Zinc, Niacin], White Cabbage, Carrot, PICKLED RED CABBAGE (10%) [Red Cabbage, Sugar, Rice Vinegar, Spirit Vinegar, Water, Ginger Purée, Soy Sauce (Water, Soya Beans, Wheat, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Alcohol, Sugar)], Edamame Beans (Soya), Green Lentils, Grilled Red Pepper, Spinach Leaves, Spring Onion, Turmeric Powder, Potassium Chloride, Salt.

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.

  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
6 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 213 meals with chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 202nd. 79% of the meals with 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 213 meals with chicken, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4061462385117, last edited 13 August 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.