Is Sainsbury's Multigrain Melba Toast ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 21 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score C
Less processed toasts
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
wholewheat flour, wheat gluten (ultra-processing marker), oats, salt (processing marker), wheat bran, wheat flour, rye flour, millet, soya bean meal, maize, emulsifier (ultra-processing marker), soya lecithin (ultra-processing marker), rye, rice flour, sour dough, caraway seed, sesame seed, yeast, malted wheat flour, flour treatment agent, ascorbic acid
Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin
As written on the pack
wholewheat flour, wheat gluten, oats, salt, wheat bran, wheat flour, rye flour, millet, soya bean meal, maize, emulsifier, soya lecithin, malted rye, rice flour, sour dough, caraway seed, sesame seed, yeast, malted wheat 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.
- E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
- 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.
- 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.
- Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Among 23 toasts
From least to most processed, this one ranks 20th. 87% of the toasts here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01773934, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.