Is Tesco Instant Oats Golden Syrup Flavour ultra-processed?

55 g Porridge Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Yes, it's ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Oat Flakes 62%, Sugar (processing marker), Skimmed Milk, Whey Powder (ultra-processing marker), Flavouring (ultra-processing marker)

As written on the pack

Oat Flakes 62%, Sugar, Dried Skimmed Milk, Whey Powder(Milk), Flavouring.

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.

1 ingredient that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

From least to most processed, this one ranks 122nd. 57% of the porridge 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.

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5052910410306, last edited 1 August 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 B (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.