Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Waitrose Freefrom Sliced Seeded Cob ultra-processed?

Breads Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Freefrom Sliced Seeded Cob

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:

  • 30 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score A

Less processed breads

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

Water, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, mixed seeds 6% (brown linseed, golden linseed, millet seeds), rapeseed oil, maize flour, buckwheat, yeast, psyllium husk, free range egg white, humectant (vegetable glycerol), stabilisers (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, xanthan gum), golden syrup (partially inverted refiners syrup), maize starch, rice starch, raisin juice, salt, maize starch, bamboo fibre, potato fibre, colour (plain caramel)

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E415 Xanthan gum , E422 Glycerol , E464 Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose

As written on the pack

Water, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, mixed seeds (6%) (brown linseed, golden linseed, millet seeds), rapeseed oil, maize flour, buckwheat, yeast, psyllium husk powder, dried pasteurised free range egg white, humectant (vegetable glycerol), stabilisers (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, xanthan gum), golden syrup (partially inverted refiners syrup), fermented maize starch, rice starch, raisin juice, salt, maize starch, bamboo fibre, potato fibre, colour (plain caramel)

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.

  • E150a Plain caramel Plain caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E464 Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
2 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 2,388 breads

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2309th. 71% of the breads 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 2,388 breads, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169661062, 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 A (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.