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Is M&S Food Juicy Blueberry Hot Cross Buns ultra-processed?

260g Brioches Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of M&S Food Juicy Blueberry Hot Cross Buns

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed brioches

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

Moistened Dried Currants 20% (Vostizza Currants, Water), Water, Blueberries 4% (Blueberries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil), Sugar· Rapeseed Oil, Dried Whole Milk, Pasteurised Egg Unsalted Butter, Invert Sugar Syrup, e471, e472e, e470a, Wheat Gluten, Wheat, Yeast, Salt, Dextrin, Palm Fat, Flavouring, Cardamom, Wheat Starch

Additives: E1400 Dextrin , E470a Sodium/potassium and calcium salts of fatty acids , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin) · Moistened Dried Currants (20%) (Vostizza Currants · Water) · Water · Sweetened Dried Blueberries (4%) (Blueberries · Sugar · Sunflower Oil) · Sugar· Rapeseed Oil · Dried Whole Milk · Pasteurised Egg Unsalted Butter (Milk) (1%) · Invert Sugar Syrup · Emulsifier: E471, E472e, E470a · Dried Wheat Gluten · Malted Wheat (contains Gluten) · Yeast · Salt · Dextrin · Palm Fat. Flavouring. Ground Cardamom · Wheat Starch (contains Gluten).

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.

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.

  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
6 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 61 brioches

From least to most processed, this one ranks 41st. 97% of the brioches 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 61 brioches, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00750233, last edited 8 September 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.