Is homemade pork fillet marinade ultra-processed?

The marinade itself contains no UPF markers when made from scratch with whole spices, honey, and small amounts of ketchup. The ketchup is the most processed ingredient (NOVA 4) but used in a single tablespoon. The Tesco BBQ Marinade alternative also has 0 UPF markers but concentrates 3 different sugar types into 34.3g sugar per 100g.

How much sugar is in shop-bought BBQ marinade?

The Tesco Texas Style BBQ Marinade contains 34.3g sugar per 100g — over a third of the product is sugar. It uses 3 different sugar types (sugar, muscovado, treacle) which triggers SpikeSaver’s sugar-disguising flag. The homemade version uses 1 tablespoon of honey in a known, controlled quantity.

Glucose: Low11 ingredients

Pork Fillet Recipe — Ingredient Analysis: NOVA Scores, Hidden Sugars & Glucose Impact

We analysed every ingredient in this pork tenderloin marinade. 11 simple ingredients. The shop-bought BBQ marinade? 3 sugar aliases including muscovado, treacle, and sugar — 34.3g sugar per 100g.

Original recipe by

Tasty Pork Tenderloin Marinade by Martyn at Amateur Chef · @amateurchefuk

SpikeSaver Ingredient Analysis

Ingredient	Qty	NOVA	Hidden Sugars	Glucose	Protein
Pork tenderloin	1 whole fillet	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	110g
Fennel seeds	1 tsp	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	—
Cumin seeds	1 tsp	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	—
Thyme	1 tsp	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	—
Garlic	3 cloves	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	—
Smoked paprika	2 tsp	NOVA 1	None	Negligible	—
Limes	2 whole	NOVA 1	None	Low	—
Honey	1 tbsp	NOVA 2	honey	Medium	0.1g
Tomato ketchup	1 tbsp	NOVA 4	sugar	Medium	—
Balsamic glaze	2 tbsp	NOVA 3	None	Medium	0.2g
Salt & pepper	Pinch	NOVA 2	None	Negligible	—

Per serving (4 servings)

210

Calories

27.5g

Protein

Carbs

Fat

0.5g

Fibre

Overall verdict

Mostly NOVA 1 with some processed condiments2 hidden sugarsGlucose: Low

A flavourful marinade built from whole spices and fresh ingredients. The ketchup and balsamic glaze are the most processed components, but used in small, controlled quantities. Two known sugar sources (honey, ketchup) — both intentional and measurable.

The swap comparison

What happens when you swap from-scratch ingredients for shop-bought shortcuts?

Homemade marinade (honey, ketchup, balsamic, whole spices)

→

TESCO Texas Style BBQ Marinade 190g

NOVA 33 sugar aliases15 ingredients

Lens	From Scratch	Shop-Bought	Delta
NOVA/UPF	NOVA 1–4, 0 UPF markers	NOVA 3, 0 UPF markers	No UPF markers in either — but NOVA rises due to concentrated sugars and salt
Hidden Sugar	2 known sugars (honey, ketchup)	3 aliases: sugar, muscovado, treacle — sugar-disguising flag	+1 new sugar source; 3 different forms disguise total sugar content
Glucose Impact	Low (small marinade quantity)	34.3g sugar/100g, 42.8g carbs/100g	Massive sugar concentration in the bottled sauce
Protein/Macros	Controlled ingredients	1.5g protein, 2.09g salt, 189kcal/100g, 15 ingredients	Salt jumps to 2.09g/100g; 15 ingredients vs 11

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