Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Fibre One Birthday Cake Square ultra-processed?

Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Fibre One Birthday Cake Square

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:

  • 34 ingredients
  • 14 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

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

Wheat flour, oligofructose, sugar, vegetable fats (palm, shea), humectant (glycerol), wheat fibre, fructose, water, egg white powder, raising agents (diphosphates, sodium bicarbonate), flavourings, whey powder, salt, lactose, skimmed milk powder, thickeners (arabic gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum), emulsifiers (lecithins), sorbitan tristearate, colours (beetroot red, brilliant blue FCF, paprika extract, lutein), antioxidant (tocopherol-rich extract)

Additives: E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E160c Paprika extract , E161b Lutein , E162 Beetroot red , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E410 Locust bean gum , E414 Acacia gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E492 Sorbitan tristearate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheat flour, oligofructose, sugar, vegetable fats (palm, shea), humectant (glycerol), wheat fibre, fructose, water, egg white powder, raising agents (diphosphates, sodium bicarbonate), flavourings, whey powder (milk), salt, lactose (milk), skimmed milk powder, thickeners (arabic gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum), emulsifiers (lecithins (contains soy)), sorbitan tristearate), colours (beetroot red, brilliant blue FCF, paprika extract, lutein), antioxidant (tocopherol-rich extract). For allergens, see ingredients in bold. May contain tree nuts.

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.

  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E161b Lutein 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.
  • E162 Beetroot red 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.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
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  • E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • 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.
  • E492 Sorbitan tristearate 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.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.

  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 367th. 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 8410076910721, last edited 26 June 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.