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Is Mrs Elswood Pickled Cucumber Spears with Dill ultra-processed?

670g (360g) Pickled cucumbers Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Mrs Elswood Pickled Cucumber Spears with Dill

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:

  • 10 ingredients
  • 3 additives

Less processed pickled cucumbers

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

Cucumbers, spirit vinegar, sugar, salt, MUSTARD seeds, natural dill flavouring, firming agent (calcium chloride), colour (riboflavin)

Additives: E101 Riboflavin , E101i Riboflavin , E509 Calcium chloride

As written on the pack

Cucumbers, spirit vinegar, sugar, salt, MUSTARD seeds, natural dill flavouring, firming agent (calcium chloride), colour (riboflavin).

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.

  • E101 Riboflavin 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Firming agent Firming agents keep fruit and vegetable tissue crisp or firm through processing and storage.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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 54 pickled cucumbers

From least to most processed, this one ranks 51st. 54% of the pickled cucumbers 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 54 pickled cucumbers, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 50409112, 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.