Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Plant Pioneers Meat Free Meatballs ultra-processed?

380 g Meat analogues Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Plant Pioneers Meat Free Meatballs

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed meat analogues

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

Textured Soya Protein 57%, Onion, Onion 9%, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Potato Flake, Soya Protein, Yeast Extract, Chickpea Flour, Tomato Puree Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Parsley, Garlic Puree, Onion Powder Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Sage, Garlic, Salt, Malted Barley Extract, Dextrose, Sea Salt, Carrot Powder, Black Pepper White Pepper, Tomato, Flavouring, Onion Extract, Parsley, Turmeric Extract

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E461 Methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

Rehydrated Textured Soya Protein (57%), Onion Puree (9% Onion (6%), Rapeseed Oil, Water, Potato Flake, Soya Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract, Chickpea Flour, Tomato Puree Stabiliser: Methyl Cellulose; Parsley, Garlic Puree, Onion Powder Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Sage, Garlic Powder, Salt, Malted Barley Extract, Dextrose, Sea Salt, Carrot Powder, Black Pepper White Pepper, Tomato Powder, Flavouring, Onion Extract, Parsley Extract, Turmeric Extract.

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E461 Methyl cellulose Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • 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.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
1 ingredient 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 512 meat analogues

From least to most processed, this one ranks 372nd. 80% of the meat analogues 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 512 meat analogues, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00184755, 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.