Is Chicago Town Original Deep Dish 2 Pepperoni ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 34 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed pepperoni pizzas
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
WHEAT flour (with calcium, niacin (B3), iron, thiamin (B1)), tomato puree, mozzarella cheese (processing marker) 14%, pepperoni 11% (pork, pork fat, salt (processing marker), spices, dextrose (ultra-processing marker), antioxidants (ascorbic acid, extracts of rosemary), maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), spice extracts, preservative (processing marker) (sodium nitrite (processing marker)), smoke), vegetable oil (processing marker) (rapeseed vegetable oil), corn flour, yeast, sugar (processing marker), maize starch (processing marker), salt (processing marker), modified potato starch (ultra-processing marker), herbs and spices, garlic, flavourings (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E392 Extracts of rosemary
As written on the pack
WHEAT flour (with calcium, niacin (B3), iron, thiamin (B1)), tomato puree, MOZZARELLA CHEESE (14%), pepperoni (11%) (pork, pork fat, salt, spices, dextrose, antioxidants (ascorbic acid, extracts of rosemary), maltodextrin, spice extracts, preservative (sodium nitrite), smoke), vegetable oil (rapeseed), corn flour, yeast, sugar, maize starch, salt, modified potato starch, herbs and spices, garlic, flavourings.
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.
- 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.
- Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
8 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
Among 34 pepperoni pizzas
From least to most processed, this one ranks 28th. 94% of the pepperoni pizzas here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5019312081794, last edited 1 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 C (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.