Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Smoked Mackerel Pâté ultra-processed?

Fish preparations Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Smoked Mackerel Pâté

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed fish preparations

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

Mackerel, Salmon, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Full Fat Soft Cheese, Single Cream, Tapioca Starch, Lemon Juice, Salt, Egg, Spirit Vinegar, Cornflour, Colour (Plain Caramel), Sugar, Gelling Agents (Agar, Locust Bean Gum), Brown Sugar, Dextrose, Made using mackerel caught in North-East Atlantic, and West of Scotland, using trawls and salmon farmed in the U.K, Scotland

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E406 Agar , E410 Locust bean gum

As written on the pack

Smoked Mackerel (Fish) (45%), Salmon (Fish), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Full Fat Soft Cheese (Milk), Single Cream (Milk), Tapioca Starch, Lemon Juice, Salt, Pasteurised Egg, Spirit Vinegar, Cornflour, Colour (Plain Caramel), Sugar, Gelling Agents (Agar, Locust Bean Gum), Brown Sugar, Dextrose. Made using mackerel caught in North-East Atlantic - North Sea and West of Scotland, using trawls and salmon farmed in the U.K., Scotland. Allergy Advice For allergens, see ingredients in bold.

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E406 Agar A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.

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.

  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 209 fish preparations

From least to most processed, this one ranks 194th. 74% of the fish preparations 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 209 fish preparations, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753905606, 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.