Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marie Callender's Marie Callenders Beef Pot Pie ultra-processed?

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Pack of Marie Callender's Marie Callenders Beef Pot Pie

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:

  • 71 ingredients
  • 3 additives

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

filling (water), beef, binder product (beef, water, contains 2% and less of (dextrose), salt, natural flavor, maltodextrin, whey, cauliflower, sesame oil, soybean oil, modified corn starch, sodium phosphate, caramel color, spice), potatoes (potatoes, calcium chloride), beef crumbles (beef, salt, garlic, flavoring), carrots, onions, modified corn starch, contains 2% and less of, beef flavor (cooked beef, yeast extract, beef tallow, beef extract, flavoring, salt, sugar, vegetable juice (onion, carrot, celery), lactic acid), wine, tomato paste, sugar, potassium chloride, canola oil, garlic, butter (cream, salt), salt, yeast extract, flavoring, methylcellulose, caramel color, 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 , E270 Lactic acid , E461 Methyl cellulose

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

As written on the pack

filling: water, beef and binder product (beef, water, contains 2% or less of: dextrose, salt, natural flavor, maltodextrin, dried whey, dried cauliflower, sesame oil, soybean oil, modified corn starch, sodium phosphate, caramel color, spice extractives), potatoes (potatoes, calcium chloride), beef crumbles (beef, salt, garlic juice, flavoring), carrots, onions, modified corn starch, contains 2% or less of: celery, beef flavor (cooked beef, yeast extract, beef tallow, beef extract, flavoring, salt, sugar, vegetable juice concentrates [onion, carrot, celery], lactic acid), wine, tomato paste, sugar, potassium chloride, canola oil, garlic, butter (cream, salt), salt, yeast extract, flavoring, methylcellulose, caramel color, 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0021131506933, last edited 22 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.