Is Pizza Margherita ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 39 ingredients
- 4 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed pepperoni pizzas
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Wheat flour (Wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), mozzarella cheese (processing marker), water, tomato, pepperoni 9% (pork, water, durum wheat semolina, salt (processing marker), cane sugar dextrose, caramelised sugar (processing marker), antioxidants (sodium ascorbate, extracts of rosemary), paprika extract (ultra-processing marker), caraway, glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), preservative (processing marker) (sodium nitrate (processing marker)), coriander, garlic extract, pepper extract, ginger extract), tomato purée, rapeseed oil, semolina (wheat), salt (processing marker), sugar (processing marker), lemon juice, yeast, oreg, basil, black pepper
Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E251 Sodium nitrate , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E392 Extracts of rosemary
As written on the pack
Wheat flour (Wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), mozzarella cheese (milk), water, tomato, pepperoni (9%) (pork, water, durum wheat semolina, salt, cane sugar dextrose, caramelised sugar, antioxidants (sodium ascorbate, extracts of rosemary). paprika extract, caraway, glucose syrup, preservative (sodium nitrate), coriander extract, garlic extract, pepper extract, ginger extract). tomato purée, rapeseed oil, semolina (wheat), salt, sugar, lemon juice, yeast, oreg, basil, black pepper.
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.
- E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
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.
- Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
6 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.
- E251 Sodium nitrate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
Among 34 pepperoni pizzas
From least to most processed, this one ranks 15th. 94% of the pepperoni pizzas here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5051873003211, last edited 27 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.