Is Marks & Spencer M&S Fruit Granola Squares ultra-processed?

5 squares Bakery products Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Invert sugar

18 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed bakery products

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

Oats 30%, Butter (processing marker), Sugar (processing marker), Sultanas 8%, Golden Syrup (ultra-processing marker) (Invert Sugar Syrup), Cornflour, Sunflower Seeds 5%, Pumpkin Seeds 5%, Cranberries 4.5% (Cranberries, Sugar (processing marker)), Skimmed Milk, Black Treacle (processing marker), Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt (processing marker), Wheatflour)

Additives: E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Oats (30%) · Butter (Milk) · Sugar · Sultanas (8%) · Golden Syrup (Invert Sugar Syrup) · Cornflour · Sunflower Seeds (5%) · Pumpkin Seeds (5%) · Sweetened Dried Cranberries (4.5%) (Cranberries · Sugar) · Dried Skimmed Milk · Black Treacle · Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate · Salt · Wheatflour.

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.

Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.

3 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.

Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 43 bakery products

From least to most processed, this one ranks 23rd. 60% of the bakery products 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 43 bakery products, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 29395538, last edited 26 July 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.