Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Egg Rice ultra-processed?

250g White rices Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Pack of Tesco Egg Rice

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:

  • 36 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed white rices

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

Long Grain Rice, Scrambled Egg 9%, Onion, Sunflower Oil, Chive, Salt, Sugar, Flavouring, Garlic, Stabiliser (Guar Gum), Yeast Extract Powder, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Onion Extract, Rapeseed Oil, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Spice Extracts (Pepper, Celery), Colour (Curcumin), Herb Extracts (Sage, Thyme, Marjoram), Long Grain Rice contains (Water), Long Grain Rice, Water, Maize Flour, Salt, Lemon Juice, Pepper

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

Cooked Long Grain Rice, Scrambled Egg (9%), Onion, Sunflower Oil, Chive, Salt, Sugar, Flavouring, Garlic Powder, Stabiliser (Guar Gum), Yeast Extract Powder, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Onion Extract, Rapeseed Oil, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Spice Extracts (Pepper, Celery), Colour (Curcumin), Herb Extracts (Sage, Thyme, Marjoram). Cooked Long Grain Rice contains: Water, Long Grain Rice. Scrambled Egg contains: Egg, Water, Maize Flour, Salt, Lemon Juice, Pepper.

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.
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 21 white rices

From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 5% of the white rices 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 21 white rices, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000358218299, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.