Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Carrot Cake ultra-processed?

408 g Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom and Spain

Pack of Tesco Carrot Cake

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:

  • 30 ingredients
  • 8 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

Sugar, Carrot 11%, Rapeseed Oil, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Egg, Dark Brown Sugar, Wheat Flour, Sultanas, Full Fat Soft Cheese, Butter, Glycerol, Walnuts, Egg White, Pineapple, Cornflour, Orange Pulp, Golden Syrup, Disodium Diphosphate, Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Spices, Cinnamon, Potassium Sorbate, Orange Oil, Palm Oil

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E501 Potassium carbonates , E501ii Potassium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Sugar, Carrot (11%), Rapeseed Oil, Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin], Pasteurised Egg, Dark Brown Sugar, Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Sultanas, Full Fat Soft Cheese (Milk), Butter (Milk), Humectant (Glycerol), Walnuts, Pasteurised Egg White, Pineapple Pulp, Cornflour, Orange Pulp, Golden Syrup, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Spices, Cinnamon, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Orange Oil, Palm Oil.

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.

  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 118th. 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 5059697702846, last edited 19 September 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.