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Is The Vegetarian Butcher Vegetarian unbelievaballs ultra-processed?

Vegetarian nuggets Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of The Vegetarian Butcher Vegetarian unbelievaballs

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:

  • 25 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed vegetarian nuggets

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

SOY structure 70% (water, isolated SOY protein, SOY protein, WHEAT gluten, WHEAT starch, soybean meal), rapeseed oil, onions, free range EGG white, spice extracts, potato starch, palm fat, flavourings, spirit vinegar, caramelised sugar, dextrose, spices, thickener (processed eucheuma seaweed), salt, iron (Ferric pyrophosphate), vitamin B12, unbelievab

Additives: E407a Processed eucheuma seaweed

As written on the pack

SOY structure (70%) (water, isolated SOY protein, SOY protein concentrate, WHEAT gluten, WHEAT starch, soybean meal (SOY)), rapeseed oil, onions, free range EGG white, spice extracts, potato starch, palm fat, flavourings, spirit vinegar, caramelised sugar, dextrose, spices, thickener (processed eucheuma seaweed), salt, iron (Ferric pyrophosphate). vitamin B12. UNBELIEVAB

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.

  • E407a Processed eucheuma seaweed 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.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
3 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 26 vegetarian nuggets

From least to most processed, this one ranks 16th. 77% of the vegetarian nuggets 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 26 vegetarian nuggets, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8718692787346, 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.