Is Waitrose Free Range British Pork Meatballs ultra-processed?

300g Meat balls Sold in the United Kingdom

It's processed, but not ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Whole foods combined with:

Salt

20 ingredients
1 additive

Less processed meat preparations

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

Pork shoulder 88%, water, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), salt (processing marker), nutmeg, ginger, mace, black pepper, mustard, chilli, thyme, sage, yeast, antioxidant (ascorbic acid)

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid

As written on the pack

Pork shoulder (88%), water*, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate*, iron*, niacin*, thiamin*), salt*, nutmeg, ginger, mace, black pepper, mustard powder, chilli powder, thyme, sage, yeast, antioxidant (ascorbic acid*)

What makes it processed

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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 47 meat balls

From least to most processed, this one ranks 10th. 74% of the meat balls 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 47 meat balls, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169071663, 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.
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.