Is Charlie Bigham's Chicken Tikka Masala and Pilau Rice ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 57 ingredients
- 2 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed chicken curry
-
Japanese Style Chicken Curry with rice
Myprotein
23 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Aromatic Coconut Chicken Curry
M&S
35 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Chicken Balti
Marks & Spencers
36 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Chicken Korma with Pilau Rice
Sainsbury's
64 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Cooked rice (water, rice), chicken 19%, onions, double cream, milk, butter (processing marker), rapeseed oil, tomato purée, mango chutney (sugar (processing marker), mangoes, salt (processing marker), acidity regulator (acetic acid), cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger), ginger, lemon juice, garlic, spices (coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, fenugreek, cayenne pepper, turmeric, chillies, black pepper, cinnamon, dill, ginger, cardamom, cloves), cornflour, red chillies, salt (processing marker), nigella, parsley, lime pickle (lime, water, sunflower oil (processing marker), salt (processing marker), green chillies, chilli, acidity regulator (acetic acid), mustard, cumin, turmeric), mustard seeds, coriander seeds, colour (ultra-processing marker) (paprika extract (ultra-processing marker))
Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E260 Acetic acid
As written on the pack
Cooked rice (water, rice), chicken (19%), onions, double cream (milk), milk, butter (milk), rapeseed oil, tomato purée, mango chutney (sugar, mangoes, salt, acidity regulator: acetic acid, cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger), ginger, lemon juice, garlic, ground spices (coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, fenugreek, cayenne pepper, turmeric, chillies, black pepper, cinnamon, dill, ginger, cardamom, cloves), cornflour, red chillies, salt, nigella seeds, parsley, lime pickle (lime, water, sunflower oil, salt, green chillies, chilli powder, acidity regulator: acetic acid, split mustard, cumin, turmeric), mustard seeds, coriander seeds, colour: paprika extract.
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.
- E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Among 18 chicken curry
From least to most processed, this one ranks 14th. 61% of the chicken curry here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5033665212407, last edited 14 March 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 C (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.