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Is Waitrose 4 Crumble Top Mince Pies With Cranberry & Orange ultra-processed?

Shelf-stable sweet pies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose 4 Crumble Top Mince Pies With Cranberry & Orange

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:

  • 53 ingredients
  • 8 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 28% (mixed vine fruits (sultanas, currants, raisins), glucose syrup, sugar, apple purée, tapioca starch, dextrose, paim oll, orange peel glucose-fructose syrup, mixed spices, water, rice flour, black treacle, sunflower oil, lemon peel, butter, concentrated orange juice, free range egg, orange oil, maize starch, gelling agent (pectin), flavouring), sugar, concentrated butter, butter, dextrose, cranberry 2%, modified maize starch, free range egg, salt, glucose syrup, wheat starch, flavouring, soya flour, lemon peel, emulsifier (soya lecithin), raising agents (diphosphates, sodium carbonates, ammonium carbonates), palm fat, preservative (potassium sorbate), acidity regulator (citric acid), modified potato starch ALLERGY ADVICE, including cereals containing gluten

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

Wheat flour, mincemeat (28%) (mixed vine fruits [sultanas, currants, raisins], glucose syrup, sugar, apple purée, tapioca starch, dextrose, paim oll (certified sustainable), orange peel glucose-fructose syrup, mixed spices, water, rice flour, black treacle, sunflower oil, lemon peel, butter (milk), concentrated orange juice, free range dried egg, orange oil, maize starch, gelling agent (pectin), flavouring), sugar, concentrated butter (milk), butter (milk) (6%), dextrose, cranberry purée (2%), modified maize starch, pasteurised free range egg, salt, glucose syrup. wheat starch, flavouring, soya flour, lemon peel, emulsifier (soya lecithin), raising agents (diphosphates, sodium carbonates, ammonium carbonates), palm fat (certified sustainable) preservative (potassium sorbate), acidity regulator (citric acid), modified potato starch ALLERGY ADVICE: For allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold May contain nuts

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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  • 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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
7 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.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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 8 shelf-stable sweet pies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 6th. 100% of the shelf-stable 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 8 shelf-stable sweet pies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169652787, 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.