Is M&S Food Roast Chicken & Salad ultra-processed?

Chicken sandwiches Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

33 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed poultry sandwiches

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

Roast Chicken Breast 28% (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water Vine Ripened Tomatoes 11%, Cucumber 7%, Lettuce 4.5%, Malted Wheatflakes, # * Rapeseed Oil Lemon Juice Wheat Bran, Salt Chicken Stock (Water Chicken Bones, Seaweed 647 153 2.7g 0.4g 360 6.3g 0.9g 45.4g 5.6g 6.8g 27.0g 0.63g 1489 0.32, 19.3g, # 2.9g 11.5g * Yeast Extract Chicken Skin, Shiitake * Mushrooms, Sugar (processing marker)), Cornflour, Yeast (Yeast, Vitamin D Yeast), Malted Barley Flour, Vinegar, Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), e471 (ultra-processing marker), e472e Pasteurised Egg Yolk Cracked Black Pepper Malted Wheatflour, Potato Starch Pasteurised Egg, Concentrated Lemon Juice Sugar Black Mustard Seeds, Dried Mustard Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid), Palm Fat, Palm Oil Wheat Starch

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids.

As written on the pack

Roast Chicken Breast (28%) Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin) - Water Vine Ripened Tomatoes (11%) Cucumber (7%). Lettuce (4.5%) Malted Wheatflakes (contain Gluten) - # * Rapeseed Oil Lemon Juice Wheat Bran (contains Gluten) Salt Chicken Stock (Water Chicken Bones - Seaweed 647 153 2.7g 0.4g 360 6.3g 0.9g 45.4g 5.6g 6.8g 27.0g 0.63g 1489 0.32(6) 0.75(15) 19.3g 2.4g . . # 2.9g 11.5g * Yeast Extract Chicken Skin - Shiitake * Mushrooms - Sugar) Cornflour - Yeast (Yeast - Vitamin D Yeast) - Malted Barley Flour (contains Gluten) - Vinegar - Wheat Gluten - Emulsifier: E471, E472e Pasteurised Egg Yolk Cracked Black Pepper Malted Wheatflour (contains Gluten) Potato Starch Pasteurised Egg - Concentrated Lemon Juice Sugar Black Mustard Seeds - Dried Mustard Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid - Palm Fat - Palm Oil Wheat Starch (contains Gluten). For allergens see ingredients in bold.

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.

E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids 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.

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.

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.

Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Sandwiches Products in the category "Sandwiches" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 16 chicken sandwiches

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2nd. 94% of the chicken sandwiches 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 16 chicken sandwiches, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00981293, last edited 17 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.