Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Cottage Pie ultra-processed?

Meat pies Sold in the United Kingdom

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:

  • 52 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed meat pies

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

Potato 44%, British Beef 28%, Onion, Red Wine 4%, Carrot, Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese (Cows' Milk), Celery, Breadcrumb (Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Palm Oil, Salt, Yeast), Water, Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Worcester Sauce (Water, Spirit Vinegar, Sugar, Tamarind, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Clove, Chilli), Cornflour, Double Cream (Cows' Milk), Tomato Purée, Beef, Rapeseed Oil, Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt, Thyme, Colour (Plain Caramel), Yeast Extract, Black Pepper, Caramelised Sugar Syrup, White Pepper

Additives: E150a Plain caramel

As written on the pack

Potato (44%), British Beef (28%), Onion, Red Wine (4%), Carrot, Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese (Cows' Milk) (2%), Celery, Breadcrumb (Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Palm Oil, Salt, Yeast), Water, Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Worcester Sauce (Water, Spirit Vinegar, Sugar, Tamarind Extract, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Clove, Chilli), Cornflour, Double Cream (Cows' Milk), Tomato Purée, Beef Juices, Rapeseed Oil, Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt, Thyme, Colour: Plain Caramel; Yeast Extract, Black Pepper, Caramelised Sugar Syrup, White Pepper.

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 38 meat pies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 24th. 71% of the meat pies 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 38 meat pies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01742831, last edited 25 April 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • 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.