Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Waitrose Brown Butter Mince Pies with Cognac ultra-processed?

6 Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Brown Butter Mince Pies with Cognac

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:

  • 62 ingredients
  • 9 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

Wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar, mixed vine fruits 15% (sultanas, raisins, currants), apple purée, butter, beurre noisette 6% (butter oil, water, skimmed milk powder, buttermilk), rice flour, glucose syrup, Cognac 2%, brandy, glacé Amarena cherries (cherries, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, citric acid, anthocyanins, potassium sorbate), almonds, vegetable suet (palm oil, rice flour, sunflower oil), dried apricots (apricots, rice flour), skimmed milk powder, cornflour, dextrose, mixed spices, mixed peel (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, lemon peel, citric acid), acetic acid, concentrated lemon juice, salt, disodium diphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, treacle (cane molasses, invert sugar syrup), sunflower oil, pectin, caramelised sugar, cloves, shea oil, lemon oil, flavouring

Additives: E163 Anthocyanins , E202 Potassium sorbate , E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid , E440 Pectins , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar, mixed vine fruits (15%) (sultanas, raisins, currants), apple purée, butter (milk), beurre noisette (6%) (butter oil (milk), water, skimmed milk powder, dried buttermilk), rice flour, glucose syrup, Cognac (2%), brandy, glacé Amarena cherries (cherries, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, acidity regulator (citric acid), colour (anthocyanins), preservative (potassium sorbate)), almonds, vegetable suet (palm oil (certified sustainable), rice flour, sunflower oil), dried apricots (apricots, rice flour), skimmed milk powder, cornflour, dextrose, mixed spices, candied mixed peel (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, lemon peel, acidity regulator (citric acid)), acidity regulator (acetic acid), concentrated lemon juice, salt, raising agents (disodium diphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate), treacle (cane molasses, invert sugar syrup), sunflower oil, gelling agent (pectin), caramelised sugar, cloves, shea oil, lemon oil, flavouring

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
8 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.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 254th. 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 5000169632093, last edited 27 September 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.