Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco BBQ Roast Chicken Breast Slices ultra-processed?

Chicken breasts Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco BBQ Roast Chicken Breast Slices

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:

  • 29 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed chicken breasts

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

Chicken Breast 81%, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Tomato Powder, Rapeseed Oil, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt, Chilli, Rice Flour, Onion Powder, Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Smoked Salt, Yeast Extract, Cornflour, Dextrose, Pentasodium Triphosphate, Pentapotassium Triphosphate, Sugar, Flavouring, Cinnamon, Ginger, Spirit Vinegar, Pimento, Cumin, Fenugreek, Garlic, Oregano

Additives: E451 Triphosphates , E451i Pentasodium triphosphate , E451ii Pentapotassium triphosphate

As written on the pack

Chicken Breast (81%), Sugar, Maltodextrin, Tomato Powder, Rapeseed Oil, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt, Chilli, Rice Flour, Onion Powder, Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Smoked Salt, Yeast Extract, Cornflour, Dextrose, Stabilisers (Pentasodium Triphosphate, Pentapotassium Triphosphate), Caramelised Sugar Powder, Flavouring, Cinnamon, Ginger, Spirit Vinegar Powder, Pimento, Cumin, Fenugreek, Garlic, Oregano.

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.

  • E451 Triphosphates 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.
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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 83 chicken breasts

From least to most processed, this one ranks 78th. 65% of the chicken breasts 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 83 chicken breasts, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697757495, last edited 25 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.