Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Cauliflower cheese Grills ultra-processed?

Meat alternatives Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Cauliflower cheese Grills

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:

  • 29 ingredients
  • No additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed meat alternatives

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

Cauliflower 21%, Water, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Potato, Mature Cheddar Cheese (Cows' Milk), Potato, Onion, Medium Fat Soft Cheese (Cows' Milk), Vegetable Oils (Sunflower Vegetable Oils, Rapeseed Vegetable Oils), Leek 3.5%, Salt, Cheese Powder (Cows' Milk), Yeast, Dextrose, Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder

As written on the pack

Cauliflower (21%), Water, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Potato, Mature Cheddar Cheese (Cows' Milk) (7%), Dried Potato, Onion, Medium Fat Soft Cheese (Cows' Milk) (6%), Vegetable Oils (Sunflower, Rapeseed); Leek (3.5%), Salt, Cheese Powder (Cows' Milk), Yeast, Dextrose, Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder.

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.

  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 698 meat alternatives

From least to most processed, this one ranks 362nd. 72% of the meat alternatives 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 698 meat alternatives, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00184977, last edited 9 September 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.