Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's 6 All Butter Mince Pies ultra-processed?

370 g Pastries Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Sainsbury's 6 All Butter Mince Pies

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:

  • 54 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed pastries

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

Mincemeat 51%, Sugar, Apple Purée (Apples, Preservative (Acetic Acid)), Sultanas, Raisins, Humectant (Glycerol), Mixed Peel (Orange Peel, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)), Brandy, Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Currants, Blood Orange Juice, Dried Apricots (Apricots, Rice Flour), Mixed Spice (Coriander Seed, Cinnamon, Ginger, Caraway, Nutmeg, Clove), Crystallised Ginger (Ginger, Sugar), Gelling Agent (Pectins), Orange Oil, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Salted Butter 14% (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Dextrose, Cornflour, Coconut Oil, Shea Oil

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: Vegetable fat.

As written on the pack

Mincemeat (51%) (Sugar, Apple Purée (Apples, Preservative: Acetic Acid), Sultanas, Raisins, Humectant: Glycerol; Candied Mixed Peel (Orange Peel, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Lemon Peel, Sugar, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid), Brandy, Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Currants, Blood Orange Juice from Concentrate, Dried Apricots (Apricots (Sulphites), Rice Flour), Mixed Spice (Coriander Seed, Cinnamon, Ginger, Caraway, Nutmeg, Clove), Crystallised Ginger (Ginger, Sugar), Gelling Agent: Pectins; Orange Oil), Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Salted Butter (14%) (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Dextrose, Cornflour, Coconut Oil, Shea Oil.

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.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
7 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • 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.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 205 pastries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 135th. 87% of the pastries 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 205 pastries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01102680, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.