Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Essential Waitrose Buttermilk pancakes ultra-processed?

Pancakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Essential Waitrose Buttermilk pancakes

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:

  • 10 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed pancakes

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

Wheat flour, water, free range egg 14%, sugar, sunflower oll, buttermilk 7%, milk powder, raising agents (sodium carbonates, disodium diphosphate)

Additives: E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates

As written on the pack

Wheat flour, water, pasteurised free range egg (14%), sugar, sunflower oll, buttermilk (7%), milk powder, raising agents (sodium carbonates, disodium diphosphate)

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.

  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
2 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.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • 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 55 pancakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 12th. 85% of the pancakes 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 55 pancakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169596791, last edited 27 March 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.