Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Finest Baby potato Salad ultra-processed?

Potato salads Sold in the United Kingdom

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:

  • 19 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed potato salads

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

Baby Potato 68%, Rapeseed Oil, Crème Fraiche, Water, Onion, Spring Onion, Pasteurised Egg Yolk, Chive, Spirit Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Mustard, Citrus Fibre, Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum), Thickener (Pectin)

Additives: E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Baby Potato (68%). Rapeseed Oil, Crème Fraiche (Milk). Water, Onion, Spring Onion, Pasteurised Egg Yolk, Chive, Spirit Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Mustard Flour, Citrus Fibre, Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum), Thickener (Pectin), Allergy Advice

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.

  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
3 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 28 potato salads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 27th. 89% of the potato salads 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 28 potato salads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 03475294, last edited 5 May 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • 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.