Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Sainsbury’s Apple soreen ultra-processed?

5 soreens 150g Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

Pack of Sainsbury’s Apple soreen

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:

  • 36 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)), Water, Sugar, Apple 10% (Glucose Fructose Syrup, Apple Purée, Humectant (Glycerol), Sugar, Wheat Fibre, Palm Fat, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavouring, Antioxidant (Ascorbic)), Maize Starch, Apple Purée 5%, Malted Barley Flour 2%, Vegetable Fat (Rapeseed, Palm), Salt, Natural Flavouring, Yeast, Preservative (Calcium Propionate)

Additives: E282 Calcium propionate , E330 Citric acid , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)), Water, Sugar, Sweetened Apple Flavoured Pieces (10%) (Glucose Fructose Syrup, Concentrated Apple Purée, Humectant: Glycerol, Sugar, Wheat Fibre, Palm Fat, Gelling Agent: Pectin, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Flavouring, Antioxidant: Ascorbic), Maize Starch, Apple Purée (5%), Malted Barley Flour (2%), Vegetable Fat (Rapeseed, Palm), Salt, Natural Flavouring, Yeast, Preservative: Calcium Propionate

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.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
5 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.

  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5088722225449, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.