Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tescos Smokey BBQ Rib Back ultra-processed?

450g Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tescos Smokey BBQ Rib Back

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:

  • 42 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Pork Ribs 78%, Water, Smoky Barbecue Glaze, Sugar, Water, Tomato Purée, Spirit Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Starch, Salt, Tapioca Starch, Colour (Plain Caramel), Water, Spices, Garlic, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Oregano, Dried Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Spices, Salt, Onion, Garlic, Dextrose, Corn Starch, Red Pepper, Rice Flour, Acidity Regulators (Sodium Diacetate, Trisodium Citrate), Tomato, Dried Onion, Green Pepper, Herbs, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Colour (Paprika Extract), Made using British and EU pork, Caution This product will contain bones

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E160c Paprika extract , E202 Potassium sorbate , E262 Sodium acetates , E262ii Sodium diacetate , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E331 Sodium citrates , E331iii Trisodium citrate

As written on the pack

Pork Ribs (78%), Water, Smoky Barbecue Glaze [Sugar, Water, Tomato Purée, Spirit Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Starch, Salt, Tapioca Starch, Colour (Plain Caramel), Smoked Water, Spices, Garlic Powder, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Oregano), Dried Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Spices, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Dextrose, Corn Starch, Dried Red Pepper, Rice Flour, Acidity Regulators (Sodium Diacetate, Trisodium Citrate), Tomato Flakes, Dried Onion, Dried Green Pepper, Herbs, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Colour (Paprika Extract). Made using British and EU pork. Caution This product will contain bones.

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.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

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.
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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate 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.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059512742613, last edited 31 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.