Is Sainsbury's Medium Wholemeal ultra-processed?

800 g Wholemeal breads Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten
E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

13 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score A

Less processed wholemeal 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

Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Salt (processing marker), Spirit Vinegar, Soya Flour, Caramelised Sugar (processing marker), mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker), Calcium Propionate, Palm Oil, Ascorbic Acid

Additives: E282 Calcium propionate , E300 Ascorbic acid , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Soya Flour, Caramelised Sugar, Emulsifier: Mono - and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Preservative: Calcium Propionate; Palm Oil, 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.

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.

2 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.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 102 wholemeal breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 49th. 85% of the wholemeal 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 102 wholemeal breads, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00280457, 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 A (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.