Is Tesco Leak and mushroom bangers ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 33 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score A
Less processed vegetarian sausages
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Water, Closed Cup Mushroom 20%, Leek 14%, Rapeseed Oil, Pea Protein 6%, Red Onion, Potato Fibre (ultra-processing marker), Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose (ultra-processing marker)), Rice Flour, Chickpea Flour, Garlic Purée, Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), Onion Powder, Yeast Extract, Thyme, Sea Salt (processing marker), Black Pepper, Cornflour, Garlic Powder, Fennel, White Pepper, Maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Beetroot Red (ultra-processing marker)), Mushroom Extract, Ferric Diphosphate, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Zinc Oxide, Vitamin B12
Additives: E162 Beetroot red , E330 Citric acid , E461 Methyl cellulose
As written on the pack
Water, Closed Cup Mushroom (20%), Leek (14%), Rapeseed Oil, Pea Protein (6%), Red Onion, Potato Fibre, Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Rice Flour, Chickpea Flour, Garlic Purée, Flavourings, Salt, Dextrose, Onion Powder, Yeast Extract, Thyme, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Cornflour, Garlic Powder, Fennel, White Pepper, Maltodextrin, Colour (Beetroot Red), Mushroom Extract, Ferric Diphosphate, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Zinc Oxide, Vitamin B12
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.
- E162 Beetroot red 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.
- E461 Methyl cellulose Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
- 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.
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.
- Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
- 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.
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.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Among 84 vegetarian sausages
From least to most processed, this one ranks 62nd. 96% of the vegetarian sausages here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063445807271, last edited 24 July 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.