Is Marks & Spencers British Beef Bourguignon ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 45 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score B
Less processed beef dishes
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
British Beef 50%, Silverskin Onions 12%, Button Mushrooms 12%, Beef Stock (Water, Beef Bones, Tomato Purée, Onions, Carrots, Salt (processing marker), Yeast Extract, Sugar (processing marker)), Red Wine, Smoked Bacon 4%, Pork 87%, Water Curing Salt (Salt Preservative, Sodium Nitrite (processing marker), Potassium Nitrate), e301, Cornflour, Sugar (processing marker), Onions, Rapeseed Oil, Tomato Purée, Yeast Extract, Brown Sugar (processing marker), Red Wine, Salt (processing marker), Butter (processing marker), Natural Colour (ultra-processing marker), plain Caramel (ultra-processing marker), Garlic Purée, Dried Tomato, Dried Porcini Mushrooms, Vinegar, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Garlic, Black Pepper, Potato Starch (processing marker), Caramelised Sugar (processing marker), Natural Flavouring Thyme, Redcurrant Juice, Bay Leaves, Pectin (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E440 Pectins , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate
As written on the pack
British Beef (50%), Silverskin Onions (12%), Button Mushrooms (12%), Beef Stock (Water, Beef Bones, Tomato Purée, Onions, Carrots, Salt, Yeast Extract, Sugar) Red Wine (Sulphites). Smoked Bacon (4%), (Pork (87%) Water Curing Salt (Salt Preservative, Sodium Nitrite, Potassium Nitrate) Antioxidant (E301), Cornflour, Sugar, Onions, Rapeseed Oil, Tomato Purée, Yeast Extract, Brown Sugar, Dried Red Wine, Salt, Butter, Natural Colour, plain Caramel, Roasted Garlic Purée, Dried Tomato, Dried Porcini Mushrooms, Dried Vinegar, Acidity Regulator: Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Garlic, Ground Black Pepper, Potato Starch, Dried Caramelised Sugar, Natural Flavouring Thyme, Concentrated Redcurrant Juice, Ground Bay Leaves, Gelling Agent: Pectin.
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.
- E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
- E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
- Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
6 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.
- E250 Sodium nitrite Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Among 69 beef dishes
From least to most processed, this one ranks 57th. 55% of the beef dishes here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 29432868, last edited 1 September 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 B (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.