Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Plant Chef 6 Red Pepper and Bean Bangers ultra-processed?

300 g Vegan sausages Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Plant Chef 6 Red Pepper and Bean Bangers

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:

  • 33 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegan products

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

Water, Red Pepper 16%, Butter Beans 13%, Rapeseed Oll, Pea Protein 6%, Pea Protein 5%, Mushroom, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Parsley, Maize Flour, Pea Fibre, Shea Fat, Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Yeast Extract, Coconut Oil, Flavouring, Salt, Thyme, Maize Starch, Modified Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Colour (Plain Caramel), Oat Fibre, Beetroot Powder, Maltodextrin, Modified Maize Starch, Dextrose, Calcium Salts of Citric Acid, Onion, Filled into plant-based casings

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E330 Citric acid , E461 Methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

Water, Red Pepper (16%), Butter Beans (13%), Rapeseed Oll, Reconstituted Pea Protein (6%), Pea Protein (5%), Mushroom, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Parsley, Maize Flour, Pea Fibre, Shea Fat, Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Yeast Extract, Coconut Oil, Flavouring, Salt, Thyme, Maize Starch, Modified Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Colour (Plain Caramel), Oat Fibre, Beetroot Powder, Maltodextrin, Modified Maize Starch, Dextrose, Calcium Salts of Citric Acid, Onion Powder. Filled into plant-based casings.

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • 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.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 18 vegan sausages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 14th. 100% of the vegan sausages 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 18 vegan sausages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697721823, 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.