Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Smokey Chorizo Tortelloni ultra-processed?

Tortellini Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Smokey Chorizo 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:

  • 45 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed tortellini

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), Chorizo 15% (Pork 92%, Salt, Paprika, Glucose Syrup, Dextrose, Flavouring, Garlic, Spices, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Stabilisers (Diphosphates), Polyphosphates, Preservatives (Sodium Nitrite), Potassium Nitrate), Ricotta Cheese (Cows' Milk), Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast), Smoked Bacon 4% (Pork 96%, Salt, Flavourings, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Corn Fibre, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Water, Flavourings, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E252 Potassium nitrate , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E450 Diphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates

As written on the pack

Fresh Egg Pasta (Wheat Flour, Pasteurised Egg, Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Chorizo (15%) (Pork (92%), Salt, Paprika, Glucose Syrup, Dextrose, Flavouring, Garlic, Spices, Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate, Stabilisers: Diphosphates, Polyphosphates, Preservatives: Sodium Nitrite, Potassium Nitrate), Ricotta Cheese (Cows' Milk), Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast), Smoked Bacon (4%) (Pork (96%), Salt, Flavourings, Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate; Preservative: Sodium Nitrite), Corn Fibre, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Water, Flavourings, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, 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.

  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E452 Polyphosphates 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.
  • Glucose syrup 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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.

  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 21 tortellini

From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 86% of the tortellini 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 21 tortellini, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00336680, last edited 25 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.