Is Butter Ultra-Processed?
It depends — real butter is NOVA 2, but spreadable butters and margarine-style spreads are NOVA 3-4
It depends. Pure block butter — whether Tesco, Lurpak, Anchor, Kerrygold, or Country Life — is a two-ingredient product: cream (butter from milk) and salt. It scores NOVA 2 (processed culinary ingredient) with zero UPF markers. Spreadable butters like Lurpak Spreadable add rapeseed oil to stay soft from the fridge, pushing them to NOVA 3. Margarine-style spreads like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Clover, and Flora Buttery contain emulsifiers, flavourings, and colours — making them NOVA 4 (ultra-processed).
Why Butter scores It depends
Butter sits across three NOVA categories depending on how much processing has been done.
Pure block butter is NOVA 2. Every block butter we checked at Tesco — from the own-brand Salted Block at £1.99 to Kerrygold at £2.65 — contains just butter (milk) and salt. Butter is made by churning cream until the fat separates from the buttermilk. Adding salt is basic preservation. That is a processed culinary ingredient by NOVA's definition, not ultra-processed.
Spreadable butters are NOVA 3. Lurpak Spreadable lists butter (64%), rapeseed oil, water, lactic culture, and salt. The rapeseed oil is added so the product stays soft straight from the fridge. This makes it a processed food — ingredients combined to create a modified product — but it still does not contain any NOVA 4 markers like emulsifiers or flavourings.
Margarine-style spreads are NOVA 4. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter contains mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (an emulsifier), lecithins, flavouring, and an acidity regulator. Clover lists natural flavouring and colour (carotenes). Flora Buttery contains sunflower lecithin, natural flavourings, and colour (beta carotene). These are all ultra-processed food markers under NOVA classification.
The pattern is clear: the fewer ingredients, the lower the NOVA score. Block butter has 2 ingredients. Spreadable butter has 5. Margarine-style spreads have 7-9 ingredients including additives that only exist in industrial food manufacturing.
Key additives to watch for
Butter at Tesco — NOVA scores
Source: Tesco product page, March 2026
2 UPF markers
3 UPF markers
*Prices were correct at the time of collection and may have since changed. Check Tesco.com for current pricing.
What to look for when shopping
Block butter is always safe — if the ingredients say 'butter (milk), salt' and nothing else, it is NOVA 2. Spreadable butters are borderline: they add vegetable oils to stay soft from the fridge, which pushes them to NOVA 3 but they typically avoid NOVA 4 additives. Margarine-style spreads (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Clover, Flora Buttery) are typically NOVA 4 because they contain emulsifiers, flavourings, and colours. Budget tip: Tesco British Salted Block Butter at £1.99 for 250g is the cheapest pure butter option.
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