Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Roasted Vegetable Flavour Couscous ultra-processed?

110g Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Roasted Vegetable Flavour Couscous

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
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score B

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Couscous (Durum Wheat Semolina), Dried Red, Green Peppers, Palm Oil, Tomato Powder Flavourings (contain Barley), Tomato Flake Sugar, Red Pepper, Salt, Maize Starch, Red and Yellow Peppers, Mushroom, Maltodextrin, Onion, Dried Garlic, Milk Sugar, Herbs, Colour (Paprika Extract), Milk Proteins

Additives: E160c Paprika extract

As written on the pack

Couscous (Durum Wheat Semolina), Dried Red and Green Peppers, Palm Oil, Tomato Powder Flavourings (contain Barley), Tomato Flake Sugar, Red Pepper Powder, Salt, Maize Starch. Roasted Red and Yellow Peppers, Dried Mushroom, Maltodextrin, Onion Powder, Dried Garlic, Milk Sugar, Dried Herbs, Colour (Paprika Extract), Milk Proteins.

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.

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.

  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
3 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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 5052004984836, last edited 28 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 B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.