Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Breaded Chicken Strips ultra-processed?

400 g Chicken nuggets Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Breaded Chicken Strips

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:

  • 17 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed chicken nuggets

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 58%, Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Cornflour, Wheat Starch, Water, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Glucose, Dextrose, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Plain Caramel, Yeast, Malt Vinegar

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Chicken Breast 58%, Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Cornflour (contains Wheat and Barley), Wheat Starch, Water, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Glucose, Dextrose, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Corn Starch, Colour (Plain Caramel), Yeast, Malt Vinegar Powder (contains Barley).

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.

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.
4 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 53 chicken nuggets

From least to most processed, this one ranks 36th. 87% of the chicken nuggets 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 53 chicken nuggets, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753921651, last edited 2 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.