Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Boar's Head Pepperoni ultra-processed?

28 g Sold in the United States

Pack of Boar's Head Pepperoni

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:

  • 11 ingredients
  • 4 additives

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

pork, beef, salt, dextrose, paprika, flavorings, lactic acid starter culture, sodium nitrite, BHA, BHT, citric acid

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E320 Butylated hydroxyanisole (bha) , E321 Butylated hydroxytoluene , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

PORK, BEEF, SALT, DEXTROSE, PAPRIKA, FLAVORINGS, LACTIC ACID STARTER CULTURE, SODIUM NITRITE, BHA, BHT, CITRIC ACID.

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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite 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.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0042421005950, last edited 31 May 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.