Is BirdsEye Breaded Cod Fillets ultra-processed?

4 Cod fillets 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
E100 Curcumin

18 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score B

Less processed cod fillets

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

Cod, Breadcrumb Coating, Rapeseed Oil, Breadcrumb Coating (WHEAT Flour, Water, Salt (processing marker), WHEAT Starch (processing marker), Yeast, mustard, Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), Sugar (processing marker), Paprika, Turmeric Extract (ultra-processing marker), Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin)

Additives: E100 Curcumin

As written on the pack

Cod (FISH) (51%), Breadcrumb Coating*, Rapeseed Oil. *Breadcrumb Coating (WHEAT Flour, Water, Salt, WHEAT Starch, Yeast, MUSTARD, Dextrose, Sugar, Paprika, Turmeric Extract, 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.

E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.

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.

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 18 cod fillets

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 72% of the cod fillets 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 18 cod fillets, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000116128631, last edited 1 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.