Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Beef Stock Pots ultra-processed?

4 x 28 g Bouillon pots Sold in the United Kingdom and Germany

Pack of Tesco Beef Stock Pots

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed bouillon pots

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

water, salt, glucose syrup, dextrose, beef fat, flavourings, caster sugar, yeast extract, beef extract, onion, barley malt extract, stabiliser (tara gum), antioxidants (ascorbic acid, rosemary extract), red wine, parsley, black pepper, e (4x28g)

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E392 Extracts of rosemary , E417 Tara gum

As written on the pack

water, salt, glucose syrup, dextrose, beef fat, flavourings, caster sugar, yeast extract, beef extract, onion concentrate, barley malt extract powder, stabiliser (tara gum), antioxidants (ascorbic acid, rosemary extract), red wine concentrate, parsley, black pepper. allergy advice for allergens, see ingredients in bold. 112g e (4x28g)

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.

  • E417 Tara gum Stabilisers are substances which make it possible to maintain the physico-chemical state of a foodstuff; stabilisers include substances which enable the maintenance of a homogenous dispersion of two or more immiscible substances in a foodstuff, substances which stabilise, retain or intensify an existing colour of a foodstuff and substances which increase the binding capacity of the food, including the formation of cross-links between proteins enabling the binding of food pieces into re-constituted food.
  • 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.
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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 34 bouillon pots

From least to most processed, this one ranks 29th. 88% of the bouillon pots 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 34 bouillon pots, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054269483604, last edited 25 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.