Is Tesco 10 Cod Fish Fingers ultra-processed?

Breaded fish 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:

Dextrose
Glucose

11 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed breaded fish

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

Cod, Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Dextrose (ultra-processing marker) (Potato), Potato Starch (processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Paprika, Turmeric, Yeast

As written on the pack

Cod (Fish) (64%), Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Dextrose (Potato), Potato Starch, Salt, Paprika, Turmeric, Yeast

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

2 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.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 163 breaded fish

From least to most processed, this one ranks 65th. 77% of the breaded fish 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 163 breaded fish, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054269866902, last edited 21 September 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.