Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Chef Select Meatballs in creamy sauce ultra-processed?

220 g Microwave meals Sold in Sweden

Pack of Chef Select Meatballs in creamy sauce

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:

  • 41 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed microwave meals

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

Köttbullar 60% (fläsk 48%, ströbröd (vetemjöl, salt, jäst), vatten, lök, salt, stärkelse, kryddor, ättiksprit, druvsocker, stabiliseringsmedel (difosfater), örtkryddor, kryddextrakt), gräddsås 40%, vatten, grädde 8.8%, rapsolja, vitt vin, socker, kryddor, salt, modifierad stärkelse, maltodextrin, naturlig arom, nötköttsextrakt, champinjonpulver, tomat, förtjockningsmedel (guarkärnmjöl, xantangummi), äggpulver, syra (L (+), vinsyra), konserveringsmedel (kaliumsorbat)

Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E202 Potassium sorbate , E334 L(+)-tartaric acid , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates

As written on the pack

Köttbullar 60 % (fläskfärs 48 %, ströbröd (vetemjöl, salt, jäst), vatten, lök, salt, stärkelse, kryddor, ättiksprit, druvsocker, stabiliseringsmedel (difosfater), örtkryddor, kryddextrakt), gräddsås 40 % (vatten, grädde 8,8 %, rapsolja, vitt vin, socker, kryddor, salt, modifierad stärkelse, maltodextrin, naturlig arom, nötköttsextrakt, champinjonpulver, tomatpulver, förtjockningsmedel (guarkärnmjöl, xantangummi), äggpulver, syra (L(+)-vinsyra), konserveringsmedel (kaliumsorbat)).

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.

  • E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
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  • 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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
7 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate 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.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 350 microwave meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 337th. 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 350 microwave meals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 20306359, last edited 2 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.