Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Hot cross buns ultra-processed?

Special breads Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Sainsbury's 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:

  • 31 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed special breads

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 British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Moistened Mixed Fruit 29% (Sultañas, Raisins, Water), Water, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Orange 2%, Lemon Peel 2%, Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Wheat Gluten, Maize Starch, mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (Palm Oil), Salt, Mixed Spice (Cinnamon, Coriander, Clove, Nutmeg), Flavouring, Soya Flour, Ascorbic Acid

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , 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

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Moistened Mixed Fruit (29%) (Sultañas, Raisins, Water), Water, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Orange and Lemon Peel (2%), Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Wheat Gluten, Maize Starch, Emulsifiers: Mono-and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono - and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono-and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids: Palm Oil, Salt, Ground Mixed Spice (Cinnamon, Coriander, Clove, Nutmeg), Flavouring, Soya Flour, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid.

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.

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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
4 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.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 363 special breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 287th. 76% of the special breads 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 363 special breads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01381184, last edited 3 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.