Is Marks & Spencers Classic chickenSteaks ultra-processed?

500 g Breaded chicken Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten

25 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed breaded chicken

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

chicken breast 56%, wheatflour (gluten (ultra-processing marker), calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), water, rapeseed oil, wheat protein, wheat starch (processing marker), salt (processing marker), Durum wheat semolina, wheat gluten (ultra-processing marker), rice flour, yeast, spirit vinegar, dried garlic, dried onions, sugar (processing marker), yeast extract, dried lemon herb extract, spice extract, white pepper, dried sage

As written on the pack

chicken breast (56%), wheatflour, (gluten, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), water, rapeseed oil, wheat protein,, wheat starch, salt, Durum wheat semolina, wheat gluten, rice flour, yeast, dried spirit vinegar, dried garlic, dried onions, sugar, yeast extract, dried lemon herb extract, spice extract, ground white pepper, dried sage

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.

3 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 115 breaded chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 30th. 83% of the breaded 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 115 breaded chicken, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00239592, last edited 5 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.