Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco finest Crumble topped mince pies ultra-processed?

300g Sweet pies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco finest Crumble topped mince pies

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:

  • 42 ingredients
  • 9 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed sweet 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

Wheat Flour, Mincemeat 35% (Sultanas, Apple Purée, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Currants, Tapioca Starch, Dextrose, Raisins, Palm Oil, Orange Peel, Black Treacle, Acetic Acid, Rice Flour, Coriander Seeds, Lemon Peel, Sunflower Oil, Cinnamon, Citric Acid, Ginger, Caraway, Lemon Oil, Nutmeg, Clove), Butter, Sugar, Dextrose, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Salt, Lemon Zest, Soya Flour, Wheat Starch, Soya Lecithins, Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Hydrogen Carbonate, Egg, Paim Fat, Flavourings, Modified Potato Starch, Citric Acid

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour, Mincemeat (35%) [Sultanas, Apple Purée, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Currants, Tapioca Starch, Dextrose, Raisins, Palm Oil, Orange Peel, Black Treacle, Preservative (Acetic Acid), Rice Flour, Coriander Seeds, Lemon Peel, Sunflower Oil, Cinnamon, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Ginger, Caraway, Lemon Oil, Nutmeg, Clove], Butter (Milk) (16%), Sugar, Dextrose, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Salt, Lemon Zest, Soya Flour, Wheat Starch, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Hydrogen Carbonate), Pasteurised Egg, Paim Fat, Flavourings, Modified Potato Starch, Acidity Regulator (Citric 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.

  • 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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 38 sweet pies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 95% of the sweet 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 sweet pies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5063250548901, last edited 31 August 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.