Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marks & Spencers M&s Mini Jaffa Cakes ultra-processed?

100 g Biscuit filled with fruit paste Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Marks & Spencers M&s Mini Jaffa Cakes

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 9 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed filled biscuits

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

Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Wheatflour, · Cocoa Mass, Palm Oil, Free Range Egg, Concentrated Orange Juice, Cocoa Butter, Sorbitol, e471, Soya Lecithin, Sunflower Lecithin, Pectin, Acidity Regulator, Citric Acid, Whey, Orange Flavouring, e450, Sodium Bicarbonate, Wheat Starch, Vanilla Flavouring for

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E420 Sorbitol , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Wheatflour (contains (Gluten))· Cocoa Mass, Palm Oil · Pasteurised Free Range Egg · Concentrated Orange Juice, Cocoa Butter, Stabiliser: Sorbitol, Emulsifier: E471, Soya Lecithin, Sunflower Lecithin, Gelling Agent: Pectin · Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Dried Whey (Milk) · Orange Flavouring, Raising Agent: E450, Sodium Bicarbonate, Wheat Starch (contains Gluten) · Vanilla Flavouring for

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.

  • 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.
  • E420 Sorbitol Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and to keep products moist.
  • 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.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
  • 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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 18 biscuit filled with fruit paste

From least to most processed, this one ranks 8th. 100% of the biscuit filled with fruit paste 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 18 biscuit filled with fruit paste, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00497169, last edited 8 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.