Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Chef Select Spaghetti bolognese ultra-processed?

380 g Bolognese-style pasta Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Chef Select Spaghetti bolognese

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:

  • 35 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed bolognese-style pasta

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

Bolognese Sauce 59% (Beef 23%, Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Water, Carrot, Onion, Garlic Purée, Red Wine Vinegar, Low Sodium Salt (Potassium Chloride, Salt), Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Vegetable Stock (Vegetable Stock (Water, Onion, Carrot Juice, Tomato, Herb), Glucose Syrup, Yeast Extracts, Salt, Chicory Extract, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Natural Flavouring), Tapioca Starch, Black Pepper, Rosemary, Oregano), Spaghetti 41% (Water, Durum Wheat Flour)

As written on the pack

59% Bolognese Sauce (23% Beef, Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Water, Carrot, Onion, Garlic Purée, Red Wine Vinegar (contains Sulphites), Low Sodium Salt [Potassium Chloride, Salt], Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Vegetable Stock [Vegetable Stock (Water, Onion, Carrot Juice, Tomato, Herb), Glucose Syrup, Yeast Extracts, Salt, Chicory Extract, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Natural Flavouring], Tapioca Starch, Black Pepper, Rosemary, Oregano), 41% Cooked Spaghetti (Water, Durum Wheat Flour).

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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.
  • 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 13 bolognese-style pasta

From least to most processed, this one ranks 11th. 77% of the bolognese-style pasta 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 13 bolognese-style pasta, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489825128, last edited 2 June 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.