Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's 6 Hot Cross Buns ultra-processed?

6 Bread rolls Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's 6 Hot Cross Buns

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed bread rolls

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

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Moistened Mixed Fruit 22% (Sultanas, Raisins, Water), Water, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Orange 2%, Lemon Peel 2%, Dextrose, Maize Starch, Emulsifier (mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Salt, Palm Fat, Mixed Spice (Cinnamon, Coriander, Clove, Nutmeg), Flavouring, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid), Palm Oil

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Moistened Mixed Fruit (22%) (Sultanas, Raisins, Water), Water, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Orange and Lemon Peel (2%), Dextrose, Maize Starch, Emulsifier: Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Salt, Palm Fat, Ground Mixed Spice (Cinnamon, Coriander, Clove, Nutmeg), Flavouring, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid; Palm 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.

  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 63 bread rolls

From least to most processed, this one ranks 51st. 79% of the bread rolls 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 63 bread rolls, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063334015725, last edited 24 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.