Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marks & Spencers Quiche Lorraine ultra-processed?

400g Lorraine quiche Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Marks & Spencers Quiche Lorraine

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed lorraine quiche

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

Whole Milk Maple Cured Smoked Bacon 16% (Pork 84%, Water Potato Starch Sugar, Salt, Maple Syrup, e451, e301, Preservative, Sodium Nitrite), Free Range Egg 15% (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Mature Cheddar Cheese, Emmental Cheese, Single Cream, Palm Oil, Wheatflour, Rapeseed Oil, Maize Flour, Cornflour, Modified Maize Starch, e471, Dextrose, Salt, Mustard

Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E451 Triphosphates , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Whole Milk Maple Cured Smoked Bacon (16%) (Pork (84%), Water Potato Starch Sugar, Salt, Maple Syrup, Stabiliser: E451, Antioxidant: E301. Preservative: Sodium Nitrite), Pasteurised Free Range Egg (15%), Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Mature Cheddar Cheese (Milk) (9%) Emmental Cheese (Milk) (8%), Single Cream (Milk) (7%), Palm Oil, Wholemeal Wheatflour (contains Gluten), Rapeseed Oil, Maize Flour, Cornflour, Modified Maize Starch, Emulsifier: E471, Dextrose, Salt, Dried Mustard.

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.

  • E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • 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.
7 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.
  • Maple syrup An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 12 lorraine quiche

From least to most processed, this one ranks 12th. 42% of the lorraine quiche 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 12 lorraine quiche, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00159623, last edited 30 April 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.