Is Sainsburys Vegetable quarter pounders ultra-processed?

Vegetarian hamburgers Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Gluten

24 ingredients
No additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed vegetarian hamburgers

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 Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Carrot 12%, Sweetcorn 11%, Peas 11%, Onion 7%, Red Pepper 7%, Potato, Rapeseed Oil, Green Beans 5%, Cauliflower 3%, Salt (processing marker), Wheat Gluten (ultra-processing marker), Rye Flour, Caster Sugar (processing marker), Yeast, Pea ent Fibre, Onion, White Pepper

As written on the pack

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Carrot (12%). Sweetcorn (11%), Peas (11%), Onion (7%), Red Pepper (7%). Dried Potato, Rapeseed Oil, Green Beans (5.0%), Cauliflower (3.0%), Salt, Wheat Gluten, Rye Flour, Caster Sugar, Yeast, Pea ent Fibre, Onion Powder, White Pepper

What makes it ultra-processed

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.

Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 21 vegetarian hamburgers

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 71% of the vegetarian hamburgers 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 21 vegetarian hamburgers, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00184908, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.