Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Roast Chicken ultra-processed?

120 g Cooked chicken breast slices Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Roast Chicken

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed cooked chicken breast slices

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

Chicken breast 98%, pea starch, dextrose, salt, stabilisers (tetrapotassium diphosphate, disodium diphosphate), chicken, yeast extract, chicken fat, caramelised sugar syrup, sugar, onion, lemon juice from concentrate, black pepper, sage

Additives: E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E450v Tetrapotassium diphosphate

As written on the pack

Chicken breast (98%), pea starch, dextrose, salt, stabilisers (tetrapotassium diphosphate, disodium diphosphate), chicken, yeast extract, chicken fat, caramelised sugar syrup, sugar, onion powder, lemon juice from concentrate, black pepper, sage extract.

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.

  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.

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.
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.

  • Prepared meats Products in the category "Prepared meats" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 53 cooked chicken breast slices

From least to most processed, this one ranks 40th. 85% of the cooked chicken breast slices 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 53 cooked chicken breast slices, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697724442, last edited 10 April 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.