Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Tortelloni Sausage & Ham Fresh Egg Pasta ultra-processed?

300g Tortelloni Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Tortelloni Sausage & Ham Fresh Egg Pasta

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed tortelloni

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

Fresh Egg Pasta (Wheat Flour, Durum Wheat Semolina, Egg, Water), Ricotta Full Fat Whey Cheese, Pork Sausage 10% (Pork, Salt, Wheat Flour, Spices, Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Ham 4.5% (Pork, Salt, Dextrose, Spices, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Wheat Flour, Potato, Sunflower Oil, Smoked Provola Medium Fat Hard Cheese, Wheat Fibre, Salt, Garlic, Olive Oil, Black Pepper, Yeast

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate

As written on the pack

Fresh Egg Pasta (Wheat Flour, Durum Wheat Semolina, Pasteurised Egg, Water), Ricotta Full Fat Whey Cheese (Milk), Pork Sausage (10%) (Pork, Salt, Wheat Flour, Spices, Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Smoked Ham (4.5%) (Pork, Salt, Dextrose, Spices, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Preservative (Sodium Nitrite)), Wheat Flour, Dried Potato, Sunflower Oil, Smoked Provola Medium Fat Hard Cheese (Milk) (2%), Wheat Fibre, Salt, Garlic, Olive Oil, Black Pepper, Yeast.

What makes it ultra-processed

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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
5 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.
  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 15 tortelloni

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 87% of the tortelloni 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 15 tortelloni, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057545807156, last edited 23 April 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.