Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Tesco St Clements Hot Cross Buns ultra-processed?

280g Breads Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco St Clements Hot Cross Buns

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:

  • 56 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed breads

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

Fortified British Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Qingredients cin (amin), Moistened Sultanas 16% (Sultanas, Water), Apple 10% (Apple, Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup), Water, Spiced Apple Compote 5% (British Bramley Apple, Water, Sugar, Ginger, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Pimento, Black Pepper), Yeast, vert Sugar Syrup, Palm Fat, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, cium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Emulsifier (mono- and ycerides of Fatty Acids), Potato Starch, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Rye Flo Rapeseed Oil, Cinnamon Powder, Flavouring, Cassia, Flour Treament Agent (Ascorbic Acid), Palm Stearin, Coriander, S Allergy advice, including cereals containing gluten, Also, not suitable for customers with an allergy to sesame, egg, milk, soya, barley, oat, spelt due to manufacturing methods

Additives: E502 Carbonates , E570 Fatty acids

As written on the pack

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Qingredients cin, (amin), Moistened Sultanas (16%) (Sultanas, Water), Diced Candied Apple (10%) (Apple, Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup), Water, Spiced Apple Compote (5%) (British Bramley Apple, Water, Sugar, Ginger, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Pimento, Black Pepper), Yeast, vert Sugar Syrup, Palm Fat, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, cium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Emulsifier: Mono - and ycerides of Fatty Acids; Potato Starch, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Rye Flo Rapeseed Oil, Cinnamon Powder, Flavouring, Cassia, Flour Treament Agent: Ascorbic Acid; Palm Stearin, Coriander Powder. S Allergy advice: For allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold. Also, not suitable for customers with an allergy to sesame, egg, milk, soya, barley, oat or spelt due to manufacturing methods.

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.

  • 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.

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.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,390 breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1994th. 71% of the breads 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 2,390 breads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753938789, last edited 13 April 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.