Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Finest Smooth Brussels Pâté ultra-processed?

170 g Pork liver Pâtés Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Finest Smooth Brussels Pâté

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed pork Pâtés

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

Pork Liver 27%, Pork Fat, Madeira Jelly 12% (Water, Madeira Wine, Pork Gelatine, Dextrose, Gelling Agents (Agar, Carob Gum), Colour (Plain Caramel), Salt), Water, Shallot, Single Cream, Tapioca Starch, Butter, Cognac, Salt, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Flavouring, Sugar, Spices, Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E250 Sodium nitrite , E406 Agar , E410 Locust bean gum , E428 Gelatine

As written on the pack

Pork Liver (27%), Pork Fat, Madeira Jelly (12%) [Water, Madeira Wine, Pork Gelatine, Dextrose, Gelling Agents (Agar, Carob Gum), Colour (Plain Caramel), Salt], Water, Shallot, Single Cream (Milk), Tapioca Starch, Butter (Milk), Cognac, Salt, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Flavouring, Sugar, Spices, Preservative (Sodium Nitrite).

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E406 Agar A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
  • E428 Gelatine Gelatine is a gelling agent made from collagen in animal skin and bones.
  • 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.
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  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.

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.
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.
  • Prepared meats Products in the category "Prepared meats" are at least group 3.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 15 pork liver Pâtés

From least to most processed, this one ranks 15th. 93% of the pork liver Pâtés 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 15 pork liver Pâtés, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5054775703593, 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.