Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Balconi Apricot Cake Slice ultra-processed?

28 g Sponge cakes Sold in Canada, France and Morocco

Pack of Balconi Apricot Cake Slice

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed desserts

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

Sugar, WHEAT flour 23%, eggs, glucose-fructose syrup, vegetable fats (palm), apricot juice 5%, skimmed MILK powder 2%, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, flavourings, MILK proteins, salt, raisin agents (ammonium hydrogen carbonate), sodium hydrogen carbonat disodium diphosphate, citric acid, WHEAT fibre, stabilize pectin

Additives: E330 Citric acid , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E440 Pectins, E450 Diphosphates.

As written on the pack

Sugar, WHEAT flour (23%), EGGS, glucose-fructose syrup, vegetable fats (palm), concentrate rehydrated apricot juice (5%), skimmed MILK powder (2%), emulsifier mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids, flavourings, MILK proteins, salt, raisin agents: ammonium hydrogen carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonat disodium diphosphate; acidity regulator: citric acid, WHEAT fibre, stabilize pectin.

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.

  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 13 sponge cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4th. 100% of the sponge cakes 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 13 sponge cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 80757283, last edited 13 September 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.