Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Trader Joe's BBQ Chicken Pizza ultra-processed?

13 oz Pizzas Sold in the United States

Pack of Trader Joe's BBQ Chicken Pizza

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:

  • 54 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed pizzas

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

wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, salt, yeast, boneless skinless chicken breast with rib meat, water, sugar, tomato, salt, citric acid, caramel color, spices, chili, beet powder, onion, garlic, modified potato starch, natural smoke flavor, low moisture mozzarella cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, microbial enzymes), BBQ sauce (water, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, caramel color, molasses, crystalline fructose, glucose syrup, modified tapioca starch, salt, dextrose, onion, garlic, spices (cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cardamom), natural smoke flavor, acetic acid), gouda (milk, cheese cultures, salt, microbial enzyme, annatto (color)), red onions, cilantro

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, salt, yeast, boneless skinless chicken breast with rib meat, water, sugar, tomato powder, salt, citric acid, caramel color, spices, chili powder, beet powder, onion powder, garlic powder, modified potato starch, natural smoke flavor, low moisture mozzarella cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, microbial enzymes), BBQ sauce (water, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, caramel color, molasses, crystalline fructose, glucose syrup, modified tapioca starch, salt, dextrose, onion powder, garlic powder, spices (cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cardamom), natural smoke flavor, acetic acid), smoked gouda (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, microbial enzyme, annatto extract [color]), red onions, cilantro

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
6 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.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 371 pizzas

From least to most processed, this one ranks 345th. 78% of the pizzas 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 371 pizzas, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00904605, last edited 11 June 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.