Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Chicken & Bacon Tortelloni ultra-processed?

300g Tortelloni Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Chicken & Bacon Tortelloni

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:

  • 47 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed tortelloni

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

Fresh Egg Pasta (Wheat Flour, Egg, Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Chicken 8%, Smoked Bacon 8% (Pork 96%, Salt, Flavourings, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Ricotta Cheese (Cows' Milk), Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast), Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Speck (Pork 96%, Salt, Dextrose, Cumin, Garlic Powder, Pepper, Rosemary, Juniper Berry, Preservatives (Sodium Nitrite), Potassium Nitrate), Water, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower Vegetable Oil, Rapeseed Vegetable Oil), Fully Refined Soybean, Onion, Flavourings, Garlic Powder, Rosemary, Salt, Sage, Black Pepper

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E252 Potassium nitrate , E301 Sodium ascorbate

As written on the pack

Fresh Egg Pasta (Wheat Flour, Pasteurised Egg, Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Chicken (8%), Smoked Bacon (8%) (Pork (96%), Salt, Flavourings, Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate; Preservative: Sodium Nitrite), Ricotta Cheese (Cows' Milk), Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast), Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Speck (Pork (96%), Salt, Dextrose, Cumin Powder, Garlic Powder, Pepper, Rosemary, Juniper Berry, Preservatives: Sodium Nitrite, Potassium Nitrate), Water, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower, Rapeseed, Fully Refined Soybean), Onion, Flavourings, Garlic Powder, Rosemary, Salt, Sage, 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.

  • 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.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
7 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.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite 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.
  • E252 Potassium 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.
  • 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 15 tortelloni

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 87% of the tortelloni 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 15 tortelloni, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00336772, last edited 21 July 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.