Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Charlie Bigham's Chicken and Ham Gratin ultra-processed?

Microwave meals Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Charlie Bigham's Chicken and Ham Gratin

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

  • 37 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

chicken, milk, potatoes, cream, cheddar cheese, wheat flour, wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin, smoked ham hock, pork, salt, antioxidant, sodium ascorbate, preservatives, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite, onions, white wine, spinach, rapeseend Oil, butter, parsley, mustard water mustard seeds, vinegar, salt, chicken stock, chicken, potatoes, water, yeast extract, salt, chicken fat, white pepper, sea salt

Additives: E249 Potassium nitrite , E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate

As written on the pack

chicken, milk, potatoes, cream, cheddar cheese, wheat flour, wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin, smoked ham hock, pork, salt, antioxidant, sodium ascorbate, preservatives, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite,onions, white wine, spinach, rapeseend Oil, butter, parsley, Dijon mustard water mustard seeds, vinegar, salt, chicken stock, chicken, dried potatoes, water, yeast extract, salt, chicken fat, white pepper, sea salt,

What makes it processed

Processed ingredients

Processed foods in their own right, such as cheese or milk powder.

  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

Culinary ingredients

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

Preservation and traditional processing

Keep food safe or ferment it, like preservatives and cultures. A sign of processing, not ultra-processing.

  • E249 Potassium nitrite A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • 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.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.

Category rules

Open Food Facts puts every product in this category in at least this group.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 351 microwave meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 96th. 72% of the microwave meals 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 351 microwave meals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5033665214449, last edited 24 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.
  • 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.