Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Taste The Difference 4 Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hot Cross Buns ultra-processed?

Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Taste The Difference 4 Chocolate & Salted Caramel 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:

  • 62 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed cakes

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), Water, Dark Chocolate Chunks 8% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavouring), Caramel 7% (Fondant (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water), Sugar, Cows' Milk, Stabilisers (Sodium Alginate), Pectin, Glucose Syrup, Coconut Oil, Salt), Caramel Fudge Pieces 5% (Sugar, Stabilisers (Pectin), Sodium Alginate, Cows' Milk, Glucose Syrup, Fondant (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water), Coconut Oil, Cornflour, Flavouring), Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Emulsifier (mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Rye Flour, Brown Sugar, Salt, Flavouring, Potato Starch, Palm Fat, Colour (Lutein), Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid), Palm Stearin

Additives: E161b Lutein , E300 Ascorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E401 Sodium alginate , E440 Pectins , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Dark Chocolate Chunks (8%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Salted Caramel Pieces (7%) (Fondant (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water), Sugar, Sweetened Condensed Cows' Milk, Stabilisers: Sodium Alginate, Pectin; Glucose Syrup, Coconut Oil, Salt), Caramel Fudge Pieces (5%) (Sugar, Stabilisers: Pectin, Sodium Alginate; Sweetened Condensed Cows' Milk, Glucose Syrup, Fondant (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water), Coconut Oil, Cornflour, Flavouring), Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Emulsifier: Mono - and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Rye Flour, Brown Sugar, Salt, Flavouring, Potato Starch, Palm Fat, Colour: Lutein; Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid; Palm Stearin.

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.

  • E161b Lutein Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of 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.
  • E401 Sodium alginate A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
5 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.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 271st. 94% of the cakes 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 377 cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00381161, last edited 14 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.