Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie ultra-processed?

15 oz Sold in the United States

Pack of Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie

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:

  • 68 ingredients
  • 12 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Filling (water), marinated cooked white chicken (chicken breast with rib meat, water, salt, carrageenan, sodium phosphates), carrots, gravy mix (modified food starch, wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, enzyme, folic acid), cream sauce base (coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate), sweet whey, salt, yeast extract, chicken fat, xanthan gum, sugar, chicken broth, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, onion, garlic, natural flavor, spices, turmeric (color)), corn, peas, onion, celery, crust (enriched wheat flour, wheat flour), niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, shortening (soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil), water, dough conditioner (wheat flour, dextrose, corn starch, salt, sodium propionate (preservative), and less of sodium aluminosilicate 2%, sodium metabisulfite), dextrose, salt, sodium bicarbonate

Additives: E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E281 Sodium propionate , E340 Potassium phosphates , E340ii Dipotassium phosphate , E407 Carrageenan , E415 Xanthan gum , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E554 Sodium aluminium silicate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

As written on the pack

Filling: water, marinated cooked white chicken (chicken breast with rib meat, water, salt, carrageenan, sodium phosphates), carrots, gravy mix (modified food starch, wheat flour [wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, enzyme, folic acid], cream sauce base [coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate], sweet whey, salt, yeast extract, chicken fat, xanthan gum, sugar, chicken broth powder, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate, onion powder, garlic powder, natural flavor, spices, turmeric [color]), corn, peas, onion, celery. crust: bleached enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), shortening (soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil), water, dough conditioner (wheat flour, dextrose, corn starch, salt, sodium propionate [preservative], 2% or less of sodium aluminosilicate, sodium metabisulfite), dextrose, salt, sodium bicarbonate.

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.

  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • 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.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
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.

  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0738912022482, last edited 20 December 2025), 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.