Is Rowan hill Madeleines ultra-processed?

400g Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Glucose
Fructose
E422 Glycerol
E450 Diphosphates
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

13 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed cakes

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

Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar (processing marker), Egg 15%, Glycerol (ultra-processing marker), Semi-Skimmed Milk, Glucose-Fructose Syrup (ultra-processing marker), Diphosphates (ultra-processing marker), Sodium Carbonates, mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker), Cassava Starch (processing marker), Natural Vanilla Flavouring (ultra-processing marker), Flavouring (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Egg 15%, Stabiliser (Glycerol), Semi-Skimmed Milk, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Raising Agents (Diphosphates, Sodium Carbonates), Emulsifier (Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Cassava Starch, Natural Vanilla Flavouring, Flavouring.

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.

E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
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 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 179th. 94% of the cakes 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 377 cakes, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489299769, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.