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Is Tesco Vegetarian Pesto, Vegetable And Mozzarella Melts ultra-processed?

Vegetarian meals Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Vegetarian Pesto, Vegetable And Mozzarella Melts

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

  • 42 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score C

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Mozzarella Medium Fat Soft Cheese 14%, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Cooked Rice (Water, Brown Rice), Water, Red Onion, Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, Full Fat Soft Cheese (Full Fat Soft Cheese, Cornflour, Sea Salt), Potato, Aubergine, Rapeseed Oil, Basil Pesto 2.5% (Sunflower Oil, Basil, Medium Fat Hard Cheese, Salt, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid)), Tapioca Starch, Onion, Tomato Paste, Garlic, Basil, Salt, Sundried Tomatoes, Sunflower Oil, White Wine Vinegar, Black Pepper, Sugar, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Yeast

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid

As written on the pack

Mozzarella Medium Fat Soft Cheese (14%) (Milk), Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin], Cooked Rice [Water, Brown Rice], Water, Red Onion, Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, Full Fat Soft Cheese [Full Fat Soft Cheese (Milk), Cornflour, Sea Salt], Dried Potato, Aubergine, Rapeseed Oil, Basil Pesto (2.5%) [Sunflower Oil, Basil, Medium Fat Hard Cheese (Milk), Salt, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid)], Tapioca Starch, Onion, Tomato Paste, Garlic, Basil, Salt, Sundried Tomatoes, Sunflower Oil, White Wine Vinegar, Black Pepper, Sugar, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Yeast.

What makes it processed

Processed ingredients

Processed foods in their own right, such as cheese or milk powder.

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

Culinary ingredients

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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

Category rules

Open Food Facts puts every product in this category in at least this group.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 11 vegetarian meals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 3rd. 73% of the vegetarian meals 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 11 vegetarian meals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063250547942, last edited 3 May 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.