Is Tesco Margherita pizza puffs ultra-processed?

125g Puffed salty snacks made from maize 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:

Colour
Flavouring
Whey
E160c Paprika extract

20 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed puffed salty snacks made from maize

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

Maize Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Rice Flour, Sugar (processing marker), Whey Powder (ultra-processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Tomato, Mature Cheddar Cheese (processing marker), Garlic, Basil, Parsley, Acid (Citric Acid), Yeast Extract, Onion, Flavouring (ultra-processing marker), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker)), Basil Extract, Oregano

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Maize Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Rice Flour, Sugar, Whey Powder (Milk), Salt, Tomato Powder, Mature Cheddar Cheese Powder (Milk), Garlic Powder, Basil, Parsley, Acid (Citric Acid), Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Flavouring, Colour (Paprika Extract), Basil Extract, Oregano. May contain cereals containing gluten and soya.

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.

E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
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.

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.

4 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.

Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 21 puffed salty snacks made from maize

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 86% of the puffed salty snacks made from maize 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 21 puffed salty snacks made from maize, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063445796513, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.