Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Deep pan cheese pizza ultra-processed?

386g Cheese pizzas Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Deep pan cheese pizza

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 D

Less processed cheese pizzas

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

Wheat Flour, Three Cheese Blend 27%, Mozzarella Full Fat Soft Cheese, Red Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Colour (Beta Carotene)), Monterey Jack Cheese, Water, Tomato Purée, Tomato Paste, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Maize Starch, Dextrose, Salt, Oregano, Sugar, Black Pepper, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E300 Ascorbic acid

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour, Three Cheese Blend 27% (Mozzarella Full Fat Soft Cheese (Milk), Red Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Colour (Beta Carotene)), Monterey Jack Cheese (Milk)), Water, Tomato Purée, Tomato Paste, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Maize Starch, Dextrose, Salt, Oregano, Sugar, Black Pepper, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid).

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

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.
5 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 39 cheese pizzas

From least to most processed, this one ranks 33rd. 69% of the cheese pizzas 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 39 cheese pizzas, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054402747556, last edited 27 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.