Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Green Lentils ultra-processed?

Lentils Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Green Lentils

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
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed lentils

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

Cooked Green Lentils 93% (Water, Green Lentils), Onion, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower Oil, Rapeseed Oil), Salt, Yeast Extract, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Herb Extracts, Marjoram, Thyme, Sagel, Onion Extract, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Colour (Curcumin), Black Pepper Extract

Additives: E100 Curcumin

As written on the pack

Cooked Green Lentils (93%) [Water, Green Lentils], Onion, Vegetable Oil [Sunflower Oil and/or Rapeseed Oil], Salt, Yeast Extract, Dextrose, Potato Starch, Herb Extracts [Marjoram, Thyme, Sagel, Onion Extract, Carrot Powder, Parsley, Colour (Curcumin), Black Pepper Extract.

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.
  • 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.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 69 lentils

From least to most processed, this one ranks 64th. 35% of the lentils 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 69 lentils, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697778544, last edited 28 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.