Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Exceptional by Asda 6 Luxury Mince Pies ultra-processed?

Sweet snacks Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Exceptional by Asda 6 Luxury Mince Pies

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:

  • 48 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed sweet snacks

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

Mincemeat 46% (Sultanas, Sugar, Apples, Raisins, Currants, Glucose Syrup, Rapeseed Oil, Brandy, Cornflour, Humectant (Glycerol), Orange Peel, Cognac Brandy 1%, Port 1%, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sunflower Oil, Acidity Regulators (Acetic Acid, Citric Acid), Valencian Orange Oil, Coriander Seeds, Ginger Powder, Cassia, Caraway Seeds, Nutmeg, Cloves, Olive Oil, Colour (Plain Caramel)), Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)), Unsalted Butter, Sugar, Dextrose, Whole Egg, Cornflour, Palm Oil, Colour (Plain Caramel)

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E422 Glycerol

As written on the pack

Mincemeat (46%) [Sultanas, Sugar, Apples, Raisins, Currants, Glucose Syrup, Rapeseed Oil, Brandy, Cornflour, Humectant (Glycerol), Orange Peel, Cognac Brandy (1%), Port (1%), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sunflower Oil, Acidity Regulators (Acetic Acid, Citric Acid), Valencian Orange Oil, Coriander Seeds, Ginger Powder, Cassia, Caraway Seeds, Nutmeg, Cloves, Olive Oil, Colour (Plain Caramel)], Fortified Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)], Unsalted Butter (Milk) (16%), Sugar, Dextrose, Pasteurised Whole Egg, Cornflour, Palm Oil, Colour (Plain Caramel).

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
4 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 5,433 sweet snacks

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4864th. 86% of the sweet snacks 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 5,433 sweet snacks, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063089609866, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.