Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Coles Lemon Madeira cake ultra-processed?

315g Cakes Sold in Australia

Pack of Coles Lemon Madeira cake

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:

  • 59 ingredients
  • 14 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed cakes

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

Madeira Cake (Sugar, Wheat Flour, Water, Canola Oil, Egg, Buttermilk Powder, Glucose Syrup, Butter (Cream, Water), Humectant (420), Vegetable Emulsifiers (471 Soy, 475, 481), Salt, Raising Agents (450, 500), Wheat Starch, Orange Oil, Thickener (415), Natural Colour (160b, 164), Preservative (200)), Lemon Icing, Sugar, Butter (Cream, Water), Water, Mineral (Salt, 170), 516, Humectant (422), Vegetable Gum (401), Lemon Oil, Dextrose, Preservative (200), Antioxidant (307), Maize Starch, Natural Colour (160b, 164), Contributes to the production of sustainable palm oil (wheat), EGG, milk, and SOY

Additives: E160b Annatto , E164 Saffron , E170 Calcium carbonates , E200 Sorbic acid , E307 Alpha-tocopherol , E401 Sodium alginate , E415 Xanthan gum , E420 Sorbitol , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E475 Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids , E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E516 Calcium sulphate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E160b Annatto, E164 Saffron, E170 Calcium carbonates, E401 Sodium alginate, E415 Xanthan gum, E420 Sorbitol, E422 Glycerol, E450 Diphosphates, E475 Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate.

As written on the pack

Madeira Cake [Sugar, Wheat Flour, Water, Canola Oil, Egg, Buttermilk Powder, Glucose Syrup, Butter (Cream, Water), Humectant (420), Vegetable Emulsifiers (471 Soy, 475, 481), Salt, Raising Agents (450, 500), Wheat Starch, Orange Oil, Thickener (415), Natural Colour (160b, 164), Preservative (200)], Lemon Icing [Sugar, Butter (Cream, Water), Water, Mineral Salt (170, 516), Humectant (422), Vegetable Gum (401), Lemon Oil, Dextrose, Preservative (200), Antioxidant (307), Maize Starch, Natural Colour (160b, 164). Contributes to the production of sustainable palm oil. ALLERGY ADVICE: CONTAINS GLUTEN (WHEAT), EGG, MILK, AND SOY.

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.

  • E160b Annatto Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E164 Saffron A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • E401 Sodium alginate A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E420 Sorbitol Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and to keep products moist.
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  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E475 Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
6 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 357th. 94% of the 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 377 cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9300601306381, last edited 6 July 2025), 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.