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Is Marks & Spencers Classic All Butter Mince Pies ultra-processed?

6 Mince Pies (334g) Pies Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Marks & Spencers Classic All Butter Mince Pies

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:

  • 33 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed pies

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

Mincemeat (Sugar, Sultanas, Apple Purée, Vostizza Currants, Mixed Peel (Orange Peel, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar), Raisins, Brown Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Preservative (Acetic Acid), Cornflour, Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves), Black Treacle, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Gelling Agent (Pectin)), Wheatflour, Unsalted Butter, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, Raising Agent (e450), Sodium Bicarbonate

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Mincemeat (Sugar, Sultanas, Apple Purée, Vostizza Currants, Mixed Peel (Orange Peel,Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar) Raisins, Brown Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Preservative: Acetic Acid, Cornflour, Ground Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves) Black Treacle, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Gelling Agent: Pectin (from Fruit)), Wheatflour, Unsalted Butter (Milk), Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, Raising Agent: E450, Sodium Bicarbonate.

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.

  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.

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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
4 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.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 101 pies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 75th. 76% of the pies 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 101 pies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00634526, last edited 13 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.