Is it ultra-processed?
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Is McVitie's Mini BN ultra-processed?

175g Biscuit filled with fruit paste Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of McVitie's Mini BN

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:

  • 25 ingredients
  • 12 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

Cereals (Wheat Flour, Rye Meal), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, Stabiliser (Glycerol), Concentrated Strawberry Puree (Strawberry Equivalent 1%), Milk, Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Trisodium Citrates), Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Salt, Natural Flavouring, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Colour (Beetroot Red), Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin)

Additives: E162 Beetroot red , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E331iii Trisodium citrate , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Cereals (Wheat Flour, Rye Meal), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, Stabiliser (Glycerol), Concentrated Strawberry Puree (Strawberry Equivalent 1%), Milk Solids, Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Trisodium Citrates), Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Salt, Natural Flavouring, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Colour (Beetroot Red), Emulsifier (Sunflower 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.

  • E162 Beetroot red 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.
  • 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.
Show 2 more
  • 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.

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.
  • 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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • 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 10th. 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 5000168031996, last edited 27 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.