Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Carbonara Sauce ultra-processed?

Meat-based pasta sauces Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Carbonara Sauce

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:

  • 26 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed meat-based pasta sauces

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, cooked ham 6% (pork, salt, sugar, flavouring, antioxidant (sodium ascorbate), preservative (sodium nitrite)), cream, cheddar cheese, sunflower oil, modified maize starch, cheese powder, yeast extract, acidity regulator (sodium citrate), stabiliser (sodium phosphate), garlic, flavouring, salt, mustard, white pepper, nutmeg

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E331 Sodium citrates , E339 Sodium phosphates

As written on the pack

water, cooked ham (6%) [pork, salt, sugar, flavouring, antioxidant (sodium ascorbate), preservative (sodium nitrite)]. cream (milk) (5%). cheddar cheese (milk) (5%), sunflower oil, modified maize starch, cheese powder (milk), yeast extract, acidity regulator (sodium citrate), stabiliser (sodium phosphate), garlic powder, flavouring, salt, mustard powder, white pepper, nutmeg.

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.

  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.
7 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.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 36 meat-based pasta sauces

From least to most processed, this one ranks 32nd. 56% of the meat-based pasta sauces 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 36 meat-based pasta sauces, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753923730, last edited 27 April 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.