Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Wasabi spicy Korean chicken with fried rice ultra-processed?

Meals with chicken Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

Pack of Wasabi spicy Korean chicken with fried rice

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:

  • 144 ingredients
  • 13 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed meals with chicken

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

Rice, Cooked White Long Grain Rice 43% (Water, White Long Grain Rice), Carrot, White Onion, White Cabbage, Red Pepper, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Rapeseed Oil, Miso Paste (Water, Soybean, Rice, Salt), Red Pepper Paste (Water, Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Wheat, Salt, Red Pepper, Soybean, Alcohol, Garlic, Onion, Flavour Enhancer (e621)), Salt, White Pepper, Chilli Coated Fried Chicken 18%, Chicken, Chicken Breast, Brining Mix (Water, Maize Starch, Salt, Acidity Regulator (e500), Spirit Vinegar, Tapioca Starch, Dried Glucose Syrup), Marinade Mix, Marinade (Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Paprika, Salt, Raising Agent (e500ii), Mushroom Extract (Maltodextrin, Mushroom Extract), Black Pepper Extract), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Coating (Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Potato, Tapioca Starch, Garlic, Ginger, Raising Agents (e450i, e500ii)), Rapeseed Oil, Sweet and Spicy Sauce, Sweet Chilli Sauce with Sweeteners (Sugar, Water, GB FB127 Red Pepper, Garlic, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Acidity Regulator (e260)), Water, Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, White Onion, Red Pepper Paste (Water, Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Wheat, Salt, Red Pepper, Soybean, Alcohol, Garlic, Flavour Enhancer (e621), Soybean, Onion, Soybean), Garlic, Distilled Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Salt, Modified Com Starch, Pineapple, Pineapple, Soybean Sauce (Water, Soybean, Salt, Wheat Flour, Alcohol), Alcohol, Red Pepper, Stabiliser (e415), Yeast Extract Powder, Colour (e160 (c)), Flavour Enhancer (e621), Black Pepper, Acidity Regulators (e260, e330, e331), Oleoresin Capsicum, Sweetener (e950), Cinnamon Powder, Flavouring, Carolina Reaper Chilli Powder, Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, Edamame Bean (Soybean), Rapeseed Oil

Additives: E160 Carotenoids , E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E950 Acesulfame k

As written on the pack

Cooked Seasoned Rice (Cooked White Long Grain Rice (43%) (Water, White Long Grain Rice), Carrot, White Onion, White Cabbage, Red Pepper, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Rapeseed Oil, Miso Paste (Water, Soybean, Rice, Salt), Red Pepper Paste (Water, Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Wheat, Salt, Red Pepper Powder, Soybean, Alcohol, Garlic, Onion, Flavour Enhancer (E621)), Salt, White Pepper), Chilli Coated Fried Chicken (18%) (Fried Chicken (Chicken Breast, Brining Mix (Water, Maize Starch, Salt, Acidity Regulator (E500), Spirit Vinegar Powder, Tapioca Starch, Dried Glucose Syrup), Marinade Mix (Marinade (Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Paprika, Salt, Raising Agent (E500(ii)), Mushroom Extract (Maltodextrin, Mushroom Extract), Black Pepper Extract), Water, Rapeseed Oil), Coating (Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Dried Potato, Tapioca Starch, Garlic Powder, Ginger, Raising Agents (E450(i), E500(ii))), Rapeseed Oil), Sweet and Spicy Sauce (Sweet Chilli Sauce with Sweeteners (Sugar, Water, GB FB127 Red Pepper, Garlic, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Acidity Regulator (E260)), Water, Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, White Onion, Red Pepper Paste (Water, Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Wheat, Salt, Red Pepper Powder, Roasted Soybean Powder, Alcohol, Garlic, Flavour Enhancer (E621), Soybean, Onion, Fermented Soybean), Garlic, Distilled Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Salt, Modified Com Starch, Crushed Pineapple, Pineapple Extract, Soybean Sauce (Water, Defatted Soybean, Salt, Wheat Flour, Alcohol), Alcohol, Red Pepper Powder, Stabiliser (E415), Yeast Extract Powder, Colour (E160(c)), Flavour Enhancer (E621), Black Pepper Powder, Acidity Regulators (E260, E330, E331), Oleoresin Capsicum, Sweetener (E950), Cinnamon Powder, Flavouring), Carolina Reaper Chilli Powder), Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, Edamame Bean (Soybean), Rapeseed Oil.

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.

  • E160 Carotenoids A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
  • E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
Show 5 more
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavour enhancer Flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (E621) strengthen savoury taste without adding a flavour of their own.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 213 meals with chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 213th. 79% of the meals with chicken 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 213 meals with chicken, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5056297000754, last edited 12 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.