Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Helga's Gluten Free Wholemeal Sliced Bread ultra-processed?

Breads Sold in Australia

Pack of Helga's Gluten Free Wholemeal Sliced Bread

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:

  • 20 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed breads

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

indicated in bold type water, rice flour 18%, modified tapioca starch (14), maize starch, potato starch, milled linseed, canola oil, sugar psyllium flour, egg white powder, iodised salt, soy flour, thickeners (464, 412), vinegar, dextrose, daily target intake one serve (2 slices), helga's wome ad contributes 30% towards the grains and legume on counc storage suggestion

Additives: E412 Guar gum , E464 Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E412 Guar gum, E464 Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose.

As written on the pack

contains egg and soyas indicated in bold type water, wholemeal rice flour (18%), modified tapioca starch (14) maize starch, potato starch, milled linseed, canola oil, sugar psyllium flour, egg white powder, iodised salt, soy flour, thickeners (464, 412), vinegar, cultured dextrose, vitami may be present: sesame seeds. 48g whole grain daily target intake one serve (2 slices) of helga's gluten free wome ad contributes 30% towards the grains & legume on counc storage suggestion:

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.

  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E464 Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose 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.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,390 breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2133rd. 71% of the breads 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 2,390 breads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9310023144034, last edited 31 December 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.