Is Sainsbury's 4 Sultana Scones ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 21 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed pastries
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
fortified british wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sultanas 23%, sugar (processing marker), water, whey powder (ultra-processing marker) (cows' milk), butter (processing marker) (cows' milk), palm õil, disodium diphosphate (ultra-processing marker), sodium hydrogen carbonate, rapeseed oil, free range egg, potassium sorbate (processing marker), mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (ultra-processing marker), including cereals containing gluten
Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate
As written on the pack
fortified british wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sultanas (23%), sugar, water, whey powder (cows' milk), butter (cows' milk) (5%), palm õil, raising agents: disodium diphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, rapeseed oil, free range egg, preservative: potassium sorbate, emulsifier: mono - and diglycerides of fatty acids, allergy advice: for allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold,
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.
- 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.
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.
- Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
4 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.
- E202 Potassium sorbate 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.
- Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.
Among 10 scones
From least to most processed, this one ranks 8th. 100% of the scones here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01138139, last edited 17 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 C (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.