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

344 g Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Genoa 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:

  • 38 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

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

Sultanas 34%, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), egg, glacé cherries 12% (cherry, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, fruit and vegetable concentrates (aronia, black carrot), citric acid, colour (anthocyanins)), butter, dark brown sugar, citrus (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, lemon peel, sugar, citric acid), glucose syrup, humectant (glycerol), sugar, palm oil, rapeseed oil, raising agents (disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate), salt, emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids)

Additives: E163 Anthocyanins , E330 Citric acid , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Sultanas 34%, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), pasteurised egg, glacé cherries 12% (cherry, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, fruit and vegetable concentrates (aronia, black carrot), citric acid, colour (anthocyanins)), butter (milk), dark brown sugar, candied citrus peel (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, lemon peel, sugar, citric acid), glucose syrup, humectant (glycerol), sugar, palm oil, rapeseed oil, raising agents (disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate), salt, emulsifier (mono - and di-glycerides of fatty acids).

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.

  • E163 Anthocyanins Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of 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.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
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  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup 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.
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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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 276th. 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 5000119539199, 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.