The Belgian consumer organization, Test-Achats, analysed commercial, packaged tiramisu... this is what they found.

​What your tiramisu should contain
Tiramisu is a surprisingly easy-to-make Italian dessert. It usually alternates a layer of ladyfinger biscuits, soaked in espresso coffee, and a mixture of mascarpone, egg, sugar and amaretto or marsala. Once prepared, refrigerate for a few hours and sprinkle with cocoa.

​How the pre-packaged, ‘industrial’ versions were formulated…

• Some tiramisus we analysed contained almost no mascarpone, it being largely replaced by cheaper cream.
• The quality of alcohol varied from product to product. None of those tested contained just marsala; instead, there was a mixture of marsala and alcohol. In some cases, there was more alcohol than marsala.
• Even when egg yolks were present, egg whites sometimes were not. To improve structure or compensate, various thickeners (emulsifiers) were added.
• One of the tiramisus in our selection contained gelatine of animal origin (thickener).
• There were also various special ingredients used including vegetable or citrus fibres, tapioca starch and coconut oil.

​To illustrate, here is an example of a packaged Tiramisu by ‘Dolce Mamma’
Nb: It’s interesting how in this ‘industrial’ tiramisu, the traditional main ingredient – mascarpone – is listed as one of the thickening agents 😊.

Ingredients:
Water, Glucose Syrup, Coconut Oil, Milk Proteins, Wheat Flour, Sugar, Alcohol, Egg
Stabiliser: Sorbitols
Thickeners: Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum, Tapioca Starch, Mascarpone Cheese (0.5% (Milk), Egg Yolk, Cocoa 0.5%, Dextrose, Soluble Coffee 0.3%), Potato Starch
Emulsifier: Mono and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids
Raising Agents: Sodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate
Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid
Coffee Extract, Wheat Starch, Natural Flavouring, Cocoa Butter, Salt, Caramelised Sugar, Alcohol Degree 1.8%

And the moral of this story is...

Eat ultra-processed foods at your own risk and remember the words from Test-Achats -
​"Tiramisu is a surprisingly easy-to-make Italian dessert".

Source:
​https://www.test-achats.be/sante/alimentation-et-nutrition/etiquetage/dossier/ingredients-produits-industriels/tiramisu