Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Birds Eye original chicken ultra-processed?

510g Cooked chicken breast slices Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Birds Eye original 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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed cooked chicken breast slices

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 70%, Water, Flour (wheat, Rice), Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed Vegetable Oil, Palm Vegetable Oil), Starch (Maize, wheat, Waxy Maize), Salt, Dried Onion, Natural Flavourings, Sugar, Yeast, Yeast Extract, Emulsifier (SOYA Lecithin #), MILK Protein, Smoke Flavouring, Herbs, Black Pepper, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

Chicken Breast (70%), Water, Flour (WHEAT, Rice), Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed, Palm), Starch (Maize, WHEAT, Waxy Maize), Salt, Dried Onion, Natural Flavourings, Sugar, Yeast, Yeast Extract, Emulsifier (SOYA Lecithin #), MILK Protein, Smoke Flavouring, Herbs, Black Pepper, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin.

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
5 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 53 cooked chicken breast slices

From least to most processed, this one ranks 43rd. 85% of the cooked chicken breast slices 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 53 cooked chicken breast slices, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000116125258, last edited 11 April 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.