Is Marks & Spencer Mini meal Roast Chicken Dinner ultra-processed?

270 g Meals with chicken Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

E440 Pectins

40 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score B

Less processed meals with chicken

Classic Butter Chicken The Spice Tailor 12 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Chicken Tikka Masala & Pilau Rice Charlie Bigham's 52 ingredients · 1 additive NOVA group 3
Japanese Style Chicken Curry with rice Myprotein 23 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Chicken Caesar Salad with Caesar dressing, croutons and Parmigiano Reggiano Sainsbury's 37 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

Potatoes 24%, Water Chicken Breast 18%, Peas 8%, Carrots 6%, Pork 5%, Onions, Roast Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken Bones, Onions, Carrots, Leeks, Parsley, Garlic, White Pepper, Bay Leaves, with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Tapioca Starch (processing marker), Rapeseed Oil, Chicken Fat, Pork Fat, Butter (processing marker), Potato Starch (processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Garlic Purée, Sea Salt (processing marker), Lemon Juice, Dried Sage, White Pepper, Yeast, Parsley, Thyme, Pectin (ultra-processing marker), Sugar (processing marker), Ascorbic Acid, White Pepper Flavouring

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Potatoes (24%), Water Chicken Breast (18%), Peas (8%), Carrots (6%), Pork (5%), Onions, Roast Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken Bones, Onions, Carrots, Leeks, Parsley, Garlic, Ground White Pepper, Bay Leaves), Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Tapioca Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Chicken Fat, Pork Fat, Butter (Milk), Potato Starch, Salt, Garlic Purée, Sea Salt, Lemon Juice, Dried Sage, Ground White Pepper, Yeast, Dried Parsley, Ground Thyme, Gelling Agent: Pectin, Sugar, Acidity Regulator: Ascorbic Acid, White Pepper 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.

E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.

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.
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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 213 meals with chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 83rd. 79% of the meals with chicken 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 213 meals with chicken, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00415378, last edited 28 August 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 B (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.