Is Tesco garlic chicken kiev ultra-processed?

Breaded chicken Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Dextrose
Glucose
Vegetable fiber

18 ingredients
No additives

Less processed breaded chicken

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

Chicken 56%, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Butter (processing marker), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Pea Fibre (ultra-processing marker), Garlic Purée, Parsley, Yeast, Salt (processing marker), Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), Black Pepper

As written on the pack

Chicken (56%), Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin], Butter (Milk), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Pea Fibre, Garlic Purée, Parsley, Yeast, Salt, Dextrose, Black Pepper.

What makes it ultra-processed

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.
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.

2 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.

Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 115 breaded chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 64th. 83% of the breaded chicken 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 115 breaded chicken, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5051898462666, last edited 16 May 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.