Is Tesco pickled sliced beetroot ultra-processed?

340 g Beetroot Sold in the United Kingdom

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

Preservative
Salt
Sugar
E202 Potassium sorbate

8 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed beetroot

Cocktail Sweet Chilli Beetroot Marks & Spencers 2 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
Cooked Beetroot in Natural Juice Greens 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Beetroot, pickled M&S Foods 2 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 1
Cooked beetroot in natural juices Love Beets 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1

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

Beetroot, Water, Acetic Acid, Spirit Vinegar, Sugar (processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Preservative (processing marker) (Potassium Sorbate (processing marker))

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E260 Acetic acid

As written on the pack

Beetroot, Water, Acetic Acid, Spirit Vinegar. Sugar, Salt, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate).

What makes it processed

Culinary ingredients

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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

Preservation and traditional processing

Keep food safe or ferment it, like preservatives and cultures. A sign of processing, not ultra-processing.

E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 beetroot

From least to most processed, this one ranks 16th. 0% of the beetroot 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 16 beetroot, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000119410368, last edited 4 June 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.