Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Lemon Curd ultra-processed?

411 g Lemon curds Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Tesco Lemon Curd

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed lemon curds

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

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Water Lemon Juice from Concentrate 8%, Margarine Modified Maize Starch, Free Range Dried Egg Citric Acid, Pectin, Sodium Citrate, Lemon Oil, Beta-Carotene, Ascorbic Acid, Margarine contains (Palm Oil), Rapeseed Oil, Palm Stearin, Water

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E300 Ascorbic acid , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Water Lemon Juice from Concentrate (8%), Margarine Modified Maize Starch, Free Range Dried Egg Citric Acid, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Lemon Oil, Colour (Beta-Carotene), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Margarine contains: Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Palm Stearin, Water.

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 11 lemon curds

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 82% of the lemon curds 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 11 lemon curds, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000119114853, last edited 23 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.