Is Marks & Spencers Medium Wholemeal Super Soft Loaf ultra-processed?

800 g Wholemeal sliced breads Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten

21 ingredients
1 additive
Nutri-Score A

Less processed wholemeal sliced breads

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, Wheat, Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), Brown Sugar (processing marker), Yeast (Yeast, Vitamin D Yeast), Wheatflour, Salt (processing marker), Soya Flour, Palm Oil, Fractionated Palm Oil, Wheatflour (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Caramelised Sugar Syrup (processing marker), Ascorbic Acid

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid

As written on the pack

Wholemeal Wheatflour (contains Gluten) - Water · Malted Wheat (contains Gluten) - Dried Wheat Gluten · Brown Sugar · Yeast (Yeast, Vitamin D Yeast) Dried Fermented Wheatflour (contains Gluten) · Salt · Soya Flour · Palm Oil - Fractionated Palm Oil - Wheatflour (contains Gluten) · Rapeseed Oil· Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin) Caramelised Sugar Syrup · Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid.

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 38 wholemeal sliced breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 16th. 89% of the wholemeal sliced breads 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 38 wholemeal sliced breads, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00515221, last edited 4 May 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.