Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Banana Bites ultra-processed?

Confectioneries Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Banana Bites

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:

  • 22 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed confectioneries

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

Yogurt Coating 59% (Sugar, Whey Powder Milk, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Yogurt Powder Milk, Soya Lecithins, Citric Acid, Flavouring), Sugar, Fructose Syrup, Banana 7%, Apple Purée, Rice Flour, Pectin, Palm Oil, Citric Acid, Flavouring, Acacia Gum, Shellac, Glucose Syrup, Sorbic Acid

Additives: E200 Sorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E414 Acacia gum , E440 Pectins , E904 Shellac

As written on the pack

Yogurt Flavoured Coating (59%) [Sugar, Whey Powder Milk, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Yogurt Powder Milk, Emulsifier Soya Lecithins), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavouring], Sugar, Fructose Syrup, Banana Purée (7%), Apple Purée, Rice Flour, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Palm Oil, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavouring, Glazing Agent (Acacia Gum, Shellac), Glucose Syrup, Preservative (Sorbic Acid).

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.
  • E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • E904 Shellac Shellac is a resin secreted by lac insects, used as a glazing agent on sweets, coated chocolates and fruit.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,731 confectioneries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1311th. 90% of the confectioneries 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 1,731 confectioneries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059512736636, last edited 9 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.