Is OceanSea Scottish cooked mussels in white wine sauce ultra-processed?

450g Microwave meals 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:

Maltodextrin
Modified starch
E322 Lecithins

23 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score D

Less processed microwave meals

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

mussels 80% (mytilus edulis), white wine sauce 20% (skimmed milk, white wine 18%, onion, palm oil, butter (processing marker), double cream, modified maize starch (ultra-processing marker), white wine vinegar, vegetable stock (salt (processing marker), yeast extract, maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), sugar (processing marker), onion, carrot, tomato, herbs), salt (processing marker), soya lecithins (ultra-processing marker), parsley)

Additives: E322 Lecithins

As written on the pack

mussels (mytilus edulis) 80%, white wine sauce 20% (partially rehydrated skimmed milk, white wine 18%, diced onion, palm oil, butter, double cream, modified maize starch, white wine vinegar, vegetable stock powder (salt, yeast extract, maltodextrin, sugar, onion, carrot, tomato, herbs), salt, soya lecithins, dried parsley)

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.

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.
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.

Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.

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 351 microwave meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 213th. 72% of the microwave meals 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 351 microwave meals, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 20143282, last edited 30 June 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.