Is Walkers Stem Ginger biscuits ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 19 ingredients
- 4 additives
- Nutri-Score E
Less processed shortbread cookies
-
Shortbread Fingers
Walker’s
9 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
All butter shortbread fingers
Tesco
10 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
All Butter Scottish Shortbread Fingers
Marks & Spencer
7 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
-
SHORTBREAD all butter fingers
Sainsbury's
13 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar (processing marker), vegetable oils (processing marker) (rapeseed vegetable oils, palm vegetable oils), stem ginger 13% (stem ginger, sugar (processing marker)), golden syrup (ultra-processing marker), skimmed milk powder (processing marker), raising agents (sodium bicarbonate), disodium diphosphate (ultra-processing marker), ground ginger
Additives: 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, vegetable oils (rapeseed, palm), candied stem ginger (13%) (stem ginger, sugar), golden syrup, skimmed milk powder, raising agents: sodium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate; ground ginger.
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.
- E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
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.
4 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 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.
Among 87 shortbread cookies
From least to most processed, this one ranks 66th. 45% of the shortbread cookies here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0039047050044, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.