Is Sainsbury's Chicken & Bacon with black pepper mayo on malted bread ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- Gluten
- E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
- E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
- 44 ingredients
- 5 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed bacon
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Bread (processing marker) (Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Malted Wheat Flakes, Wheat Bran, Yeast, Salt (processing marker), Malted Barley Flour, mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker), mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker), Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), Malted Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Ascorbic Acid, Wheat Flour, Wheat Starch (processing marker)), Chicken Breast 27% (Chicken Breast, Rice Starch (processing marker), Salt (processing marker)), Black Pepper Mayonnaise (Water, Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Spirit Vinegar, Pasteurised Free Range Egg Yolk, Black Pepper, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Sugar (processing marker), White Wine Vinegar, Salt (processing marker), Mustard Seeds), Beechwood Smoked Bacon 11% (Pork Belly, Sugar (processing marker), Salt (processing marker), Sodium Ascorbate, Sodium Nitrite (processing marker)), !
Additives: E250 Sodium nitrite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E301 Sodium ascorbate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
As written on the pack
Malted Bread (Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Malted Wheat Flakes, Wheat Bran, Yeast, Salt, Malted Barley Flour, Emulsifiers: Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono - and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Wheat Gluten, Malted Wheat Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid; Wheat Flour, Wheat Starch), Chicken Breast (27%) (Chicken Breast, Rice Starch, Salt), Black Pepper Mayonnaise (Water, Rapeseed Oil, Cornflour, Spirit Vinegar, Pasteurised Free Range Egg Yolk, Black Pepper, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Sugar, White Wine Vinegar, Salt, Mustard Seeds), Beechwood Smoked Bacon (11%) (Pork Belly, Sugar, Salt, Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate; Preservative: Sodium Nitrite). !
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.
- E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
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.
- Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
6 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.
- E250 Sodium nitrite 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.
- 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.
- Sandwiches Products in the category "Sandwiches" are at least group 3.
- Bread An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
Among 109 bacon
From least to most processed, this one ranks 105th. 36% of the bacon here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00238373, last edited 23 September 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.