Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marks & Spencer West Country Extra Mature Cheddar and Red Leicester Loaf ultra-processed?

Cheeses from England Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Marks & Spencer West Country Extra Mature Cheddar and Red Leicester Loaf

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
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed cheeses from England

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, Water Mature Cheddar Cheese, West Country Vintage Cheddar Cheese, Red Leicester Cheese 2.5% (Red Leicester Cheese, Colour (Carotenes)), Wheat Fibre (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin Thiamin), Yeast Malted Barley Flour, Vitamin D Yeast

Additives: E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheatflour (contains Gluten) Water Mature Cheddar Cheese ( Milk) (10%) West Country Vintage Cheddar Cheese (Milk) (7%) Red Leicester Cheese (2.5%) (Red Leicester Cheese (Milk) Colour: Carotenes) Wheat Fibre (contains Gluten) Salt Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour. Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin Thiamin) Yeast Malted Barley Flour (contains Gluten) Vitamin D Yeast.

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.

  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • 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.

  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.

  • Cheeses Products in the category "Cheeses" are at least group 3.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 178 cheeses from England

From least to most processed, this one ranks 171st. 31% of the cheeses from England 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 178 cheeses from England, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00720564, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.