Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Cumberland pork sausage ultra-processed?

Pork sausages Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Cumberland pork sausage

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:

  • 30 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed pork sausages

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 Pork 70%, Water, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Potato Starch, Dextrose, Salt, Black Pepper, White Pepper, Yeast, Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Disodium Diphosphates (Preservatives), Sodium Metabisulphite, Sulphur Dioxide, Wheat Gluten, Parsley, Sage, Yeast Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Sage, Nutmeg, Mace, Pimento, Ascorbic Acid, Filled into Pork Collagen Casings

Additives: E220 Sulphur dioxide , E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E450iii Tetrasodium diphosphate

As written on the pack

British Pork (70%), Water, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Potato Starch, Dextrose, Salt, Black Pepper, White Pepper; Yeast, Stabilisers: Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Disodium Diphosphates: Preservatives: Sodium Metabisulphite (Sulphites), Sulphur Dioxide; Wheat Gluten, Parsley, Sage; Yeast Extract, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid: Sage Extract, Nutmeg Extract, Mace Extract, Pimento Extract, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid. Filled into Pork Collagen Casings.

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.

  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.

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.
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.

  • Prepared meats Products in the category "Prepared meats" are at least group 3.
  • Sausages Products in the category "Sausages" are at least group 3.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 55 pork sausages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 35th. 89% of the pork sausages 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 55 pork sausages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01260847, last edited 7 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.