Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Waitrose Free Range 6 Farmhouse Pork Sausages ultra-processed?

Sausages Sold in the United Kingdom

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:

  • 25 ingredients
  • 3 additives

Less processed sausages

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

Pork 95%, water, rice flour, sea salt, gram flour, sage, stabiliser (triphosphates), thyme, salt, corn starch, sugar, black pepper, preservative (sodium metabisulphite), white pepper, maize starch, onion, onion, mace, antioxidant (ascorbic acid), dextrose monohydrate, ginger, Filled into calcium alginate casings

Additives: E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E300 Ascorbic acid , E451 Triphosphates

As written on the pack

Pork (95%), water, rice flour, sea salt, gram flour, sage, stabiliser (triphosphates), thyme, salt, corn starch, sugar, black pepper, preservative (sodium metabisulphite), white pepper, maize starch, onion, concentrated onion juice, mace, antioxidant (ascorbic acid), dextrose monohydrate, ginger. Filled into calcium alginate casings.

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.

  • E451 Triphosphates Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.

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.
6 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.

  • Prepared meats Products in the category "Prepared meats" are at least group 3.
  • Sausages Products in the category "Sausages" are at least group 3.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 337 sausages

From least to most processed, this one ranks 202nd. 80% of the sausages 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 337 sausages, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169616529, last edited 30 December 2023), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • 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.