Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Smoked Ham & Mature Cheddar ultra-processed?

Ham and cheese sandwiches Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Tesco Smoked Ham & Mature Cheddar

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:

  • 37 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed cheese sandwiches

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

Malted Brown Bread, Smoked Formed Ham 23%, Cheddar Cheese, Mayonnaise, Water, Malted Wheat Flakes, Wheat Bran, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Wheat Protein, Malted Barley Flour, mono- and DiAcetyltartaric Esters of mono- and DiGlycerides of Fatty Acids, mono- and DiGlycerides of Fatty Acids, Barley Malt Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Malted Wheat Flour, Ascorbic Acid, Palm Oil, Salt, Dextrose, Sodium Triphosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, Sodium Nitrite, Mayonnaise contains (Water), Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Spirit Vinegar, Pasteurised Egg Yolk, Sugar, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E451 Triphosphates , E451i Pentasodium triphosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Malted Brown Bread, Smoked Formed Ham (23%), Cheddar Cheese (Milk) (17%), Mayonnaise. Malted Brown Bread contains: Wheat Flour, Water, Malted Wheat Flakes, Wheat Bran, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Wheat Protein, Malted Barley Flour, Emulsifiers (Mono - and Di-Acetyltartaric Esters of Mono - and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono - and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Barley Malt Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Malted Wheat Flour, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid), Palm Oil. Smoked Formed Ham contains: Pork, Salt, Dextrose, Stabiliser (Sodium Triphosphate), Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite). Mayonnaise contains: Water, Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Spirit Vinegar, Pasteurised Egg Yolk, Sugar, Salt. Wheat Flour contains: Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin.

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.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
6 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.

  • E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sandwiches Products in the category "Sandwiches" are at least group 3.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 8 ham and cheese sandwiches

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4th. 88% of the ham and cheese sandwiches 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 8 ham and cheese sandwiches, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 03038550, last edited 25 June 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.