Is Marks & Spencers Beer Battered Haddock Fillets ultra-processed?

380 g Fishes 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:

Colour
Dextrose
Emulsifier
Flavouring
Glucose
Thickener
and 5 more

30 ingredients
9 additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed fishes

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

Haddock (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Pale Ale, Maize Flour, Cassava Flour, Rice Flour, Modified Tapioca Starch (ultra-processing marker), Wheat Starch (processing marker), Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), e450 (ultra-processing marker), e503, Calcium Phosphates, Salt (processing marker), Cornflour, Flavouring (ultra-processing marker), Dextrose (ultra-processing marker), Thickener (ultra-processing marker) (Xanthan Gum (ultra-processing marker)), Colour (ultra-processing marker) (Paprika Extract (ultra-processing marker)), Sunflower Oil (processing marker), Emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (Sunflower Lecithin (ultra-processing marker))

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E341 Calcium phosphates , E415 Xanthan gum , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

Haddock (Fish) (65%), Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Pale Ale (contains Barley, Gluten) (3.5%), Maize Flour, Cassava Flour, Rice Flour, Modified Tapioca Starch, Wheat Starch (contains Gluten), Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate, E450, E503, Calcium Phosphates, Salt, Cornflour, Flavouring, Dextrose, Thickener: Xanthan Gum, Colour: Paprika Extract, Sunflower Oil, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin

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.

E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.

Show 3 more

Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.
Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.

Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 668 fishes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 668th. 34% of the fishes 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 668 fishes, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 29119134, last edited 17 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.