Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Cornish Dairy Ice Cream ultra-processed?

Ice cream in a box Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Cornish Dairy Ice Cream

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed ice creams

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

British Skimmed Cows' Milk, Sugar, Dried Glucose Syrup, Butteroil (Cows Milk), Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, British Clotted Cream (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Vanilla Extract, Stabilisers (Locust Bean Gum), Guar Gum, Colour (Carotenes)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E410 Locust bean gum , E412 Guar gum , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

British Skimmed Cows' Milk, Sugar, Dried Glucose Syrup, Butteroil (Cows Milk), Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, British Clotted Cream (Cows' Milk) (3.0%), Emulsifier: Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Vanilla Extract, Stabilisers: Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum; Colour: Carotenes.

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.

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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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.

  • Ice creams Products in the category "Ice creams" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 10 ice cream in a box

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2nd. 100% of the ice cream in a box 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 10 ice cream in a box, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00333047, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.