Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Chicken pot pies tender white meat chicken ultra-processed?

80 oz Sold in the United States

Pack of Chicken pot pies tender white meat chicken

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:

  • 59 ingredients
  • 10 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Filling (chicken broth, water), chicken broth (maltodextrin, chicken broth, salt, flavors), chicken (white meat chicken, water, isolated soy protein product (isolated soy protein, modified potato starch, corn starch, carrageenan, soy lecithin), dextrose, salt, flavoring), carrots, peas, water, modified corn starch, celery, contains 2% and less of (onions), soybean oil, salt, nonfat dry milk, chicken flavor (broth, rendered chicken fat, salt, flavor, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, polysorbate 60, xanthan gum), cream, sugar, methylcellulose, flavoring, xanthan gum, guar gum, turmeric, crust (enriched wheat flour, wheat flour), niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, interesterified soybean oil, water, salt, whey, caramel color

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E407 Carrageenan , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E435 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate , E461 Methyl cellulose , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Filling: chicken broth (water, chicken broth powder [maltodextrin, chicken broth, salt, flavors]), cooked chicken (white meat chicken, water, isolated soy protein product [isolated soy protein, modified potato starch, corn starch, carrageenan, soy lecithin], dextrose, salt, flavoring), carrots, peas, water, modified corn starch, celery, contains 2% or less of: onions, soybean oil, salt, nonfat dry milk, chicken flavor (contains chicken broth, rendered chicken fat, salt, flavor, disodium inosinate & disodium guanylate, polysorbate 60, xanthan gum), cream, sugar, methylcellulose, flavoring, xanthan gum, guar gum, extractives of turmeric. crust: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), interesterified soybean oil, water, salt, modified whey, caramel color.

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • 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.
  • E435 Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
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  • E461 Methyl cellulose Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • 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.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
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.

  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0021131301521, last edited 17 July 2025), 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.