Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Birds Eye Chargrilled sweet & sticky BBQ chicken ultra-processed?

174g Chickens Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Birds Eye Chargrilled sweet & sticky BBQ chicken

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 4 additives

Less processed chickens

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 73%, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Palm Oil, Cornflour, Demerara Sugar, Wheat Starch, Salt, Rice Flour, Dried Onion, Molasses Powder, Natural Flavourings, Natural Vinegar and Pimento Flavourings, Dried Glucose Syrup, Garlic, Spirit Vinegar, Spices, Citric Acid, Yeast Extract, Caramelised Sugar, Smoke Flavouring, Natural Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Colour (Paprika Extract), Natural Clove and Apple Flavourings with Other Natural Flavourings

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Chicken Breast (73%), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Palm Oil, Cornflour, Demerara Sugar, Wheat Starch, Salt, Rice Flour, Dried Onion, Molasses Powder (contains Wheat), Natural Flavourings, Natural Vinegar & Pimento Flavourings, Dried Glucose Syrup, Garlic Powder, Spirit Vinegar, Spices, Citric Acid, Yeast Extract, Caramelised Sugar, Smoke Flavouring, Natural Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Colour (Paprika Extract), Natural Clove and Apple Flavourings with Other Natural Flavourings.

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.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

  • 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.
3 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 356 chickens

From least to most processed, this one ranks 336th. 74% of the chickens 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 356 chickens, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000116111749, last edited 27 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.