Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Jaffa Cakes ultra-processed?

24 cakes Jaffa cakes Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Pack of Tesco Jaffa Cakes

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:

  • 35 ingredients
  • 12 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed biscuits and 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

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dark Chocolate 22% (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithins)), sugar, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), egg, dextrose, glucose syrup, concentrated orange juice 1%, gelling agents (pectin, citric acid), humectant (glycerine), sunflower oil, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate), acidity regulators (sodium citrate, citric acid), flavouring, colour (curcumin), wheat bran

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E331 Sodium citrates , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dark Chocolate (22%) (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithins)), sugar, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), pasteurised egg, dextrose, glucose syrup, concentrated orange juice (1%), gelling agents (pectin, citric acid), humectant (glycerine), sunflower oil, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate), acidity regulators (sodium citrate, citric acid), flavouring, colour (curcumin), wheat bran.

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.

  • E100 Curcumin 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.
  • 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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
3 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.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 18 jaffa cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 100% of the jaffa 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 18 jaffa cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753212001, 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.