Is Tesco Seasoned Zigzag Fries ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 21 ingredients
- 2 additives
- Nutri-Score B
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Potato 86%, Vegetable Oils (processing marker) (Sunflower Oil, Rapeseed Oil), Modified Potato Starch (ultra-processing marker), Maize Flour, Rice Flour, Potato Starch (processing marker), Black Pepper, Rosemary, Flavourings (ultra-processing marker), Garlic, Onion, Nutmeg, Sea Salt (processing marker), Yeast Extract, Thickener (ultra-processing marker) (Guar Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), paprika extract (ultra-processing marker), black pepper extract
Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E412 Guar gum
As written on the pack
Potato (86%). Vegetable Oils [Sunflower Oil, Rapeseed Oil], Modified Potato Starch, Maize Flour. Rice Flour. Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Rosemary. Flavourings, Garlic, Onion Powder, Nutmeg. Sea Salt, Yeast Extract, Thickener (Guar Gum). Dextrose, paprika extract, black pepper 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.
- E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
- E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697724602, 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 B (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.