Is Marks & Spencer Roast chicken and sweetcorn ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- Colour
- Gluten
- E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
- E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
- 30 ingredients
- 2 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed poultry sandwiches
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Roast Chicken Breast 25% (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Sweetcorn 16%, Malted Wheatflakes, Rapeseed Oil Butter, Wheat Bran, Salt Pasteurised Egg Yolk Cornflour Yeast (Yeast Vitamin D Yeast), Dried Egg Malted Barley Flour, White Wine Vinegar Emulsifier (e471 (ultra-processing marker)), e472e (ultra-processing marker), Chicken Stock (Water Chicken Bones Chicken Skin Yeast Extract Seaweed, Shiitake, Mushrooms Sugar), Cracked Black Pepper, Potato Starch Concentrated Lemon Juice, Malted Wheatflour, Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), Mustard Extract Sugar Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid Palm Fat, Palm Oil, Colour (ultra-processing marker)), Paprika Extract Sunflower Oil Wheat Starch
Additives: 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
Roast Chicken Breast (25%)- Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin) Water. Sweetcorn (16%) Malted Wheatflakes (contain Gluten) Rapeseed Oil Butter (Milk) Wheat Bran (contains Gluten) Salt Pasteurised Egg Yolk Cornflour Yeast (Yeast Vitamin D Yeast). Dried Egg Malted Barley Flour (contains Gluten). White Wine Vinegar Emulsifier: E471, E472e. . . . . . . . Chicken Stock (Water Chicken Bones Chicken Skin Yeast Extract Seaweed · Shiitake . . . • Mushrooms Sugar) Cracked Black Pepper. Potato Starch Concentrated Lemon Juice. . Malted Wheatflour (contains Gluten). Wheat Gluten - Mustard Extract Sugar Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid Palm Fat · Palm Oil. . . . . • Colour: Paprika Extract Sunflower Oil 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.
- 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.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.
1 ingredient that would only make it processed
Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.
- Sandwiches Products in the category "Sandwiches" are at least group 3.
Among 16 chicken sandwiches
From least to most processed, this one ranks 5th. 94% of the chicken sandwiches here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00170758, last edited 5 August 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.