Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Breaded Cod Fillet Portions ultra-processed?

Breaded fish Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Tesco Breaded Cod Fillet Portions

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 3 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, salt, maize flour, yeast, dextrose, wheat starch, sugar, palm oil, sodium bicarbonate, calcium phosphate, wheat gluten, modified wheat starch, sunflower oil, glucose syrup, milk proteins

Additives: E341 Calcium phosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

cod (fish) (52%), wheat flour, rapeseed oil, water, salt, maize flour, yeast, dextrose, wheat starch, sugar, palm oil, raising agents (sodium bicarbonate, calcium phosphate), wheat gluten, modified wheat starch, sunflower oil, glucose syrup, milk proteins,

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.

  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
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 163 breaded fish

From least to most processed, this one ranks 150th. 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 5052004384773, last edited 19 June 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.