Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marks & Spencer Cheese & Pumpkin Seed Crispbread ultra-processed?

200g Wheat crackers Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Marks & Spencer Cheese & Pumpkin Seed Crispbread

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:

  • 14 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed wheat crackers

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

Wheatflour, Cornflour Cheese 9% (Cheese, Colour (Carotenes), e160bi), Pumpkin Seeds 9%, Palm Fat Rapeseed Oil, Cheese Powder 4% (Cheese), Yeast Wheatflakes, Linseed Wholewheat Flour, Salt, Potato Starch

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160b Annatto , E160bi Annatto bixin

As written on the pack

Wheatflour (contains Gluten) Cornflour Cheese (9%) (Cheese (Milk) Colour: Carotenes, E160b(i)) Pumpkin Seeds (9%) Palm Fat Rapeseed Oil - Cheese Powder (4%) (Cheese. (Milk)) Yeast Wheatflakes (contains Gluten) Linseed Wholewheat Flour (contains Gluten). Salt - Potato Starch.

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E160b Annatto 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
4 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.

  • Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 37 wheat crackers

From least to most processed, this one ranks 33rd. 70% of the wheat crackers 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 37 wheat crackers, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 29124244, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.