Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Essential Waitrose Custard ultra-processed?

Custards and pastry creams Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Essential Waitrose Custard

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:

  • 9 ingredients
  • 2 additives

Less processed custards and pastry creams

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

Skimmed milk, whipping cream, sugar, tapioca starch, stabiliser (locust bean gum), flavouring, colour (carotenes)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E410 Locust bean gum

As written on the pack

Skimmed milk, whipping cream (milk) (15%), sugar, tapioca starch, stabiliser (locust bean gum), flavouring, colour (carotenes)

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 36 custards and pastry creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 94% of the custards and pastry creams 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 36 custards and pastry creams, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169869116, 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.