Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is McVities Cosmic Berry Jaffa Cakes ultra-processed?

Sold in Sweden

Pack of McVities Cosmic Berry 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:

  • 50 ingredients
  • 14 additives

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dark Chocolate 19% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea), Butter Oil, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, e476), Natural Flavouring), Sugar, Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Niacin, Iron, Folic Acid, Thiamin), Whole Egg, Dextrose, Concentrated Orange Juice, Glucose Syrup, Acid (Citric Acid), Vegetable Oils (Sunflower Vegetable Oils, Palm Vegetable Oils), Humectant (Glycerine), Natural Flavouring, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrates), Whole Egg, Vegetable Extracts (Radish, Beetroot), Invert Sugar Syrup, Colour (Curcumin), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dark Chocolate (19%) [Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats (Palm (Certified Sustainable), Shea), Butter Oil (Milk), Cocoa Butter, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, E476), Natural Flavouring], Sugar, Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Niacin, Iron, Folic Acid, Thiamin), Whole Egg, Dextrose, Concentrated Orange Juice, Glucose Syrup, Acid (Citric Acid), Vegetable Oils (Sunflower, Palm (Certified Sustainable)), Humectant (Glycerine), Natural Flavouring, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrates), Dried Whole Egg, Vegetable Extracts (Radish, Beetroot), Invert Sugar Syrup, Colour (Curcumin), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin).

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of 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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
  • E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) is an emulsifier made from castor oil.
Show 5 more
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
3 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.

  • 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000168012230, last edited 2 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.