Is Sainsbury's Cheese and tomato pasta ultra-processed?

Pasta dishes 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:

Colour
E160a Carotene
E410 Locust bean gum

24 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score B

Less processed pasta dishes

Fettuccine Alfredo Trader Giotto's 14 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Charlie Bingham Lasagne Charlie Bigham's 76 ingredients · 4 additives NOVA group 3
Spinach, Buffalo Ricotta, Pine Nuts Girasoli Tesco 27 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Macaroni Cheese with Bacon Charlie Bigham's 49 ingredients · 3 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

Cooked Pasta (Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Water, Tomato Purée, Red Mature Cheddar Cheese 8% (Cows' Milk, Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Carotenes (ultra-processing marker))), Tomato 4%, Rapeseed Oil, Red Onion 2%, White Wine Vinegar, Sugar (processing marker), Onion, Cornflour, Garlic Purée, Salt (processing marker), Basil, Stabiliser (Locust Bean Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Oregano, Black Pepper, Garlic

Additives: E160a Carotene , E410 Locust bean gum

As written on the pack

Cooked Pasta (Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Water, Tomato Purée, Red Mature Cheddar Cheese (8%) (Cows' Milk) (Colour: Carotenes), Tomato (4%), Rapeseed Oil, Red Onion (2%), White Wine Vinegar, Sugar, Onion, Cornflour, Garlic Purée, Salt, Basil, Stabiliser: Locust Bean Gum: Oregano, Black Pepper, Garlic

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.

E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

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.

Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 544 pasta dishes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 375th. 72% of the pasta dishes 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 544 pasta dishes, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01654899, last edited 3 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 B (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.