Is Waitrose Brioche burger buns ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 26 ingredients
- 4 additives
- Nutri-Score A
Less processed hamburger buns
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Fortified wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), free range egg 12%, yeast, sugar (processing marker), water, invert sugar syrup (ultra-processing marker), rapeseed oil, wheat flour, concentrated butter, skimmed milk powder (processing marker), salt (processing marker), milk proteins (ultra-processing marker), emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (ultra-processing marker)), colour (ultra-processing marker) (carotenes (ultra-processing marker)), potato dextrin (ultra-processing marker), flour treatment agent (ascorbic acid), flavourings (ultra-processing marker), wheat flour
Additives: E1400 Dextrin , E160a Carotene , E300 Ascorbic acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
As written on the pack
Fortified wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), pasteurised free range egg (12%), yeast, sugar, water, invert sugar syrup, rapeseed oil, fermented wheat flour, concentrated butter (milk), skimmed milk powder, salt, milk proteins, emulsifier (mono - and diglycerides of fatty acids), colour (carotenes), potato dextrin, flour treatment agent (ascorbic acid), flavourings, wheat flour
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.
- E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
- E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
- 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.
- 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.
- Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
- Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
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.
- Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
- Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
- Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.
Among 55 hamburger buns
From least to most processed, this one ranks 46th. 96% of the hamburger buns here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169623695, last edited 26 June 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 A (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.