Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Fray Bentos Chicken Meatballs in Gravy ultra-processed?

Sold in the United Kingdom and Italy

Pack of Fray Bentos Chicken Meatballs in Gravy

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:

  • 20 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Water, Chicken 15%, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Chicken Fat, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Onion, Potato Starch, Yeast Extract, Onion, Maize Starch, Spices, Barley Malt Extract, Tomato Paste, Flavouring

As written on the pack

Water, Chicken (15%), Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Chicken Fat, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Onion Purée, Potato Starch, Yeast Extract (contains Barley), Onion Powder, Maize Starch, Spices, Barley Malt Extract, Tomato Paste, Flavouring

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.
2 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.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5012427044500, last edited 3 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.