Is Pasta Ultra-Processed?

Why Pasta scores NOVA 1 — Unprocessed

Dried pasta is made by mixing durum wheat semolina with water, extruding it through a die to create shapes, and drying it. That is minimal processing — essentially the same thing you would do at home with flour, water, and a pasta machine.

We checked five pasta products at Tesco and found remarkable consistency:

- Tesco Spaghetti 1Kg contains just 'Durum Wheat Semolina' — one ingredient, zero additives, NOVA 1. - Napolina Fusilli 500G lists '100% Durum Wheat Semolina' — identical. - Hearty Food Co Penne 500G adds soft wheat flour alongside durum wheat semolina. Both are minimally processed grain flours, keeping it firmly at NOVA 1. - Tesco Whole Wheat Fusilli 500G uses wholemeal durum wheat semolina — the whole grain version, still just one ingredient, still NOVA 1. - Tesco Tricolore Fusilli 500G adds small amounts of spinach and tomato for colour. These are dried vegetable powders, not synthetic colours or flavourings, so the product remains NOVA 1.

No pasta product we checked contained any emulsifiers, flavourings, preservatives, sweeteners, colours, or modified starches. Dried pasta is one of the safest staples from a UPF perspective.

Gluten-free pasta (like Rummo GF Penne) substitutes rice flour, corn flour, or similar alternatives for the wheat. These are still minimally processed grain flours, so GF pasta also scores NOVA 1.

Fresh pasta (found in the chilled aisle) typically adds eggs to the flour, which keeps it at NOVA 1-2 depending on other additions. It is still a clean product.

The only pasta-adjacent products that would score NOVA 4 are flavoured instant noodles like Batchelors Super Noodles, which contain flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate), hydrogenated fats, maltodextrin, and artificial flavourings. These are a completely different product category.