Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Tesco Plant Chef 2 Meat-free Quarter Pounders ultra-processed?

Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Plant Chef 2 Meat-free Quarter Pounders

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Water, Pea Protein 10%, Rapeseed Oil, Tapioca Starch, Tes Shea Fat, Cornflour, Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Fava Bean Flour 2%, AL Coconut Fat, Flavourings, Yeast Extract, Emulsifiers (Lecithins), Malt Extract, Beetroot Powder, Thickener (Sodium Alginate), Dried Glucose Syrup, Salt, Water

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E401 Sodium alginate , E461 Methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

Water, Pea Protein (10%), Rapeseed Oil, Tapioca Starch, Tes Shea Fat, Cornflour, Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Fava Bean Flour (2%), AL Coconut Fat, Flavourings, Yeast Extract, Emulsifiers (Lecithins), Malt Extract, Beetroot Powder, Thickener (Sodium Alginate), Dried Glucose Syrup, Salt, Smoked 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.

  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E401 Sodium alginate A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • 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.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
2 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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697769443, last edited 27 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.