Is Sainsbury's Tomato & Basil Chicken Pasta ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 44 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Soya protein, caramelised biscuit spread, biscuits (wheat flour, sugar (processing marker), vegetable oils (processing marker) (palm vegetable oils, rapeseed vegetable oils), candy sugar (processing marker), raising agent (sodium hydrogen carbonate), soya flour, salt (processing marker), cinnamon), rapeseed oil, sugar (processing marker), emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (lecithins (ultra-processing marker)), acid (citric acid), chocolate flavour coating (vegetable oils (processing marker) (palm kernel, palm, sunflower), dietary fibre (oligofructose), pea protein, tiger nut flour, fat-reduced cocoa powder, emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (lecithins (ultra-processing marker)), natural vanilla flavouring (ultra-processing marker)), corn fibre (ultra-processing marker), chicory fibre (ultra-processing marker), humectant (ultra-processing marker) (glycerol (ultra-processing marker)), soya flour, palm oil, natural flavourings (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), fat-reduced cocoa powder, sweetener (ultra-processing marker) (steviol glycosides from Stevia)
Additives: E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E422 Glycerol , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E960a Steviol glycosides from Stevia
As written on the pack
Soya protein, caramelised biscuit spread (caramelised biscuits (wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils (palm, rapeseed), candy sugar syrup, raising agent: sodium hydrogen carbonate, soya flour, salt, cinnamon), rapeseed oil, sugar, emulsifier: lecithins (soya), acid: citric acid), chocolate flavour coating (vegetable oils (palm kernel, palm, sunflower), dietary fibre (oligofructose), pea protein, tiger nut flour, fat-reduced cocoa powder, emulsifier: lecithins, natural vanilla flavouring), corn fibre, chicory fibre, humectant: glycerol, soya flour, palm oil, natural flavourings, salt, fat-reduced cocoa powder, sweetener: steviol glycosides from Stevia
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.
- E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
- E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
- Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
- Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
- Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.
- Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.
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.
- 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.
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.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00418881, last edited 26 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.