Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Soft scoop vanilla icecream ultra-processed?

2 l Ice cream tubs Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Soft scoop vanilla icecream

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed ice cream tubs

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

Skimmed Milk, Whey Powder, Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Palm Stearin, Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Emulsifier (mono- and DiGlycerides of Fatty Acids), Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Sodium Alginate), Flavouring, Colours (Carotenes)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E401 Sodium alginate , E412 Guar gum , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Reconstituted Skimmed Milk Concentrate, Partially Reconstituted Whey Powder (Milk), Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Palm Stearin, Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Emulsifier (Mono - and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Sodium Alginate), Flavouring, Colours (Carotenes).

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E401 Sodium alginate 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.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
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  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
2 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.

  • Ice creams Products in the category "Ice creams" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 147 ice cream tubs

From least to most processed, this one ranks 121st. 90% of the ice cream tubs 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 147 ice cream tubs, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057545473788, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.