Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Smoked Cheese ultra-processed?

125 g Cheeses Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Smoked Cheese

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:

  • 10 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cheeses

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

Cheese, Skimmed Milk, Cheddar Cheese, Butter, Emulsifying Salts (Polyphosphates, Triphosphates), Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphates)

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E339 Sodium phosphates , E451 Triphosphates , E452 Polyphosphates

As written on the pack

Cheese (Milk) (37%), Skimmed Milk Concentrate, Smoked Cheddar Cheese (Milk) (23%), Smoked Butter (Milk) (9%), Emulsifying Salts (Polyphosphates, Triphosphates), Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphates).

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.

  • E451 Triphosphates 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.
  • E452 Polyphosphates 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.
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.

  • Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,223 cheeses

From least to most processed, this one ranks 997th. 38% of the cheeses 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 1,223 cheeses, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 03044230, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.