Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Waitrose Christmas Mincemeat ultra-processed?

820 g Dessert mixes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Christmas Mincemeat

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:

  • 33 ingredients
  • 2 additives

Less processed dessert mixes

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

Sugar, apple purée, sultanas 11% (sultanas, sunflower oil), raisins 11% (raisins, sunflower oil), currants 7% (currants, sunflower oil), vegetable suet 4% (palm oil, rice flour, sunflower oil), citrus 3% (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, lemon peel, acidity regulator (citric acid)), apricot purée, glucose syrup, brandy, cornflour, mixed spices, acidity regulator (acetic acid), allspice, treacle (cane molasses, invert sugar syrup)

Additives: E260 Acetic acid , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

Sugar, apple purée, sultanas (11%) (sultanas, sunflower oil), raisins (11%) (raisins, sunflower oil), currants (7%) (currants, sunflower oil), vegetable suet (4%) (palm oil, rice flour, sunflower oil), citrus peel (3%) (orange peel, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, lemon peel, acidity regulator (citric acid)), apricot purée, glucose syrup, brandy, cornflour, mixed spices, acidity regulator (acetic acid), allspice, treacle (cane molasses, invert sugar syrup), orange oill ALLERGY ADVICE: May contain nuts

What makes it ultra-processed

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.
  • 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.
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 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 107 dessert mixes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 71st. 87% of the dessert mixes 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 107 dessert mixes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169020302, 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.