Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco 8 Pancakes Smooth & Fluffy ultra-processed?

8 x 40 g Cakes Sold in Ireland and France

Pack of Tesco 8 Pancakes Smooth & Fluffy

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

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

Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin, Buttermilk, Sugar, Egg, Rapeseed Oil, Invert Sugar Syrup, Disodiurn Diphosphate, Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate, Salt, Preservative ~, Sorbic Acid»

Additives: E200 Sorbic acid , E450 Diphosphates , E501 Potassium carbonates , E501ii Potassium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E450 Diphosphates.

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin. Thiamin), A Buttermilk (Milk), Sugar. Egg, Rapeseed Oil, Invert Sugar Syrup. Raising Agents (Disodiurn Diphosphate. Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate), Salt. Preservative ~ (Sorbic Acid»,

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.

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.

  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
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.

  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 69th. 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 5031021673343, last edited 9 July 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.