Is Sainsbury's Stem Ginger Cookies Taste the Difference ultra-processed?

200g Biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom and the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

E450 Diphosphates

19 ingredients
4 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed biscuits

Whole wheat cereal with added vitamins and iron. 12 Biscuits Weetabix 10 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Fruit & Seed Oatcakes Nairn's 9 ingredients · 2 additives NOVA group 3
Shortbread Fingers Walker’s 9 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
original made with sea salt Triscuit 3 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Butter (processing marker) (Cows' Milk), Sugar (processing marker), Stem Ginger 17% (Stem Ginger, Sugar (processing marker)), Oats 11%, Cornflour, Ginger Powder, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate), Disodium Diphosphate (ultra-processing marker), Sea Salt (processing marker)

Additives: E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Butter (Cows' Milk) (22%), Sugar, Candied Stem Ginger (17%) (Stem Ginger, Sugar), Oats (11%), Cornflour, Ginger Powder, Raising Agents: Sodium Bicarbonate, Disodium Diphosphate; Sea Salt.

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.

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.

Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
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 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 396th. 83% of the biscuits 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 1,514 biscuits, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01432039, last edited 19 February 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.