Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Ready to Eat Custard ultra-processed?

500 g Custards and pastry creams Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Ready to Eat Custard

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:

  • 12 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed custards and pastry 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

Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Water, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Flavouring, Stabiliser (Sodium Triphosphate), Colours (Beta-Carotene), Paprika Extract

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E160c Paprika extract , E451 Triphosphates , E451i Pentasodium triphosphate

As written on the pack

Reconstituted Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Water, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Flavouring, Stabiliser: Sodium Triphosphate; Colours: Beta-Carotene, Paprika Extract.

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.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E451 Triphosphates 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • 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 36 custards and pastry creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 27th. 94% of the custards and pastry creams 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 36 custards and pastry creams, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01838879, 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.