Is Trader Joe's mini chicken tacos ultra-processed?

16 oz Chickens Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Colour

18 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed chickens

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

corn tortilla (processing marker), water, yellow corn, lime, white corn, cornstarch (processing marker), boneless skinless chicken breast, tomato puree, sugar (processing marker), cornstarch (processing marker), yeast extract, natural flour, water, peppers, white vinegar, salt (processing marker), colors (ultra-processing marker), distilled white vinegar

As written on the pack

CORN TORTILLA, WATER, YELLOW CORN, LIME, WHITE CORN, CORNSTARCH, BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREAST, TOMATO PUREE, SUGAR, CORNSTARCH, YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL FLOUR, WATER, PEPPERS, GRILLED WHITE VINEGAR, SALT, COLORS, DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR.

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.

Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

4 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.
Bread An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 356 chickens

From least to most processed, this one ranks 110th. 74% of the chickens 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 356 chickens, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00812801, last edited 1 July 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.