Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Holly Lane Fruit tea loaf ultra-processed?

500 g Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Holly Lane Fruit tea loaf

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
  • 4 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

sultanas 42%, black tea 23% (Water, Black Tea), Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Egg, Mixed Peel (Orange Peel, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar, Salt, Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate), Sulphur Dioxide, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)), Cane Molasses, Mixed Spices (Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger, Clove), Raising Agent (Sodium Carbonates), Salt, Preservative (Potassium sorbate)

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E220 Sulphur dioxide , E330 Citric acid , E500 Sodium carbonates

As written on the pack

SULTANAS (42%), BLACK TEA (23%) (Water, Black Tea), Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Egg, Mixed Peel (Orange Peel, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar, Salt, Preservatives: Potassium Sorbate, Sulphur Dioxide; Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid), Cane Molasses, Mixed Spices (Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger, Clove), Raising Agent: Sodium Carbonates; Salt, Preservative: Potassium sorbate

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 72nd. 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 4088600195193, 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.