UPF's at M&S!

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We are having a laugh going down memory lane, remembering Findus crispy pancakes and other 'junk' from our teens, and then I googled them to see if they were still around.
Well yes they are, and I was surprised by the lack of crap in the ingredients compared to much more expensive stuff from M&S.

Have noticed so much unnecessary, awful ingredients in M&S food this past year, and just can't work out why they're doing it. Some of their bread packs in more 'E' numbers, emulsifiers and palm oil than cheap and cheerful packet loaves in Heron foods.
A box of coated chicken/fish bites are swimming in crap, even though a handful of them will set you back close to £5.

Always considered M&S the ones to trust for 'nicer' goods, previously. It's as if they've gone full pelt down the UPF rabbit hole with no hope of a return. There isn't much difference now between what you will find in cheap frozen nuggets and an M&S 'special'.
Sad to see it really, as have always loved shopping there, but there are so few options that are palm oil free now, from ready meals, to bread, to basically anything that isn't raw.

Here are the ingredients to the Findus cheesy pancakes (we all know they're crap, but compare the price and ingredients to a 'higher quality' product from M&S):

Findus Pancake £2.50 - Water, Wheat Flour, Breadcrumbs (Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Paprika, Salt, Turmeric, Dextrose), Pasteurised Whole Egg, Vegetarian Mozzarella Cheese (Milk) (3%), Skimmed Milk Powder, Vegetarian Emmental Cheese (Milk) (2%), Salt, Sunflower Oil, Natural Colour (Beta Carotene)

Compared with M&S Haddock Fingers £4.75:

Haddock (Fish) (56%), Wheatflour contains Gluten (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Rapeseed Oil, Wheat Starch (contains Gluten), Salt, Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate, E450, E503, Palm Oil, Maize Flour, Sunflower Oil, Dextrose, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Colour: Paprika Extract, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin

It's grim isn't it?

I've never thought M&S had less upfs than other shops? I think that M&S costs more because it tends to contain more of the expensive ingredients in a given dish. Ie fish pie will have more fish and nicer cheese than equivalent Lidl version, for example. But exactly the same upfs, as they are basically for stability and shelf life.

Agree, the quality of the meat still pulls me in but they could do much better than this. A few healthier bread options from the tons on offer would sell very well!

Their white sliced bread in the green or red packet tastes more like cake than bread... And I've just looked at the ingredients of the white crafted sourdough and it's got barley malt in. That is not a traditional sourdough ingredient!

If i am craving a bog standard white sliced loaf, I get the one in the blue packet from aldi.

M&S is just another supermarket and it’s always had a lot of pre-prepared stuff. I definitely don’t think of it as low UPF.

E numbers aren't necessarily bad or unnatural substances either. E300 for example is vitamin c or E160 is paprika. So it's not all shite. Just difficult to decipher.

But I do agree with you on the palm oil, that should be banned.

M&S is known for its ready meals

Surely M&S is the King of the Ready Meal.

Ten years ago when my dd was diagnosed with an allergy and I started to have to read packets I almost fainted.

I wouldn’t I expect M&S to have less UPF but if they cost more than other supermarkets then I’d expect the meat to be from British farms. Ready meal type meat is often from overseas eg Poland which presumably keeps the cost down.

I would say the difference between the two examples above (and obviously affecting price) is that M & S has 56% haddock as first ingredient, where the pancake is wheat and mozzarella is veeery far down that list. So they may contain the same rubbish but I bet M & S is higher in protein and even higher in unprocessed ingredients since fish accounts for more than half. It's not just about the ingredients but the proportion of those ingredients.

Yes, the first ingredient being water (in a solid food) is insane! There’s barely any nutrition in it

Did we not have this thread last night

The main ingredient in your Findus pancakes is water, followed by wheat.

The main ingredient in the M&S fish fingers is fish (56%).

Neither of them are great for you but the simple fact that the Findus pancakes don't have any E numbers doesn't mean they're nutritionally better. I assume they are the cheese flavoured ones but they have a grand total of 5% cheese.

They're a pile of wheaty nothingness.

The fish fingers are the much better option of the two, despite the E numbers.

I agree OP. Their packaging annoys me the most though. So much of it and they seem to have taken no action to reduce it. Their prices on prepared food is also out of hand.

I am not sure why you would think that there would be less UPF in M&S beige crap than any other beige crap.to be honest. It depends what you buy. I had a ready meal from there the other night as needed to grab something quick and surprisingly was very tasty, no UPF and all just ingredients no additives or anything. If I had chosen breadcrumbs, battered slop then I would expect UPF no matter where it came from.

I agree but I do think a lot of things are better quality - look at M&S sausages compared to Aldi for example, the ingredients are shocking in the Aldi ones

Well, if you are going to choose pre-prepared foods like fish fingers and ready meais, why would you expect them not to be packed with ultra-processed garbage regardless of what shop they come from?
The difference between cheap UPF and expensive UPF is just that the latter tastes/looks better.
If you want fewer UPF ingredients just buy proper food - carrots, sprouts, lamb chops, etc. M&S versions of all those proper foods are definitely nicer than in other supermarkets. But they also more £££££ and contribute very little extra to the niceness of food you cook yourself.

My M&S food hall is practically nothing but ready meals. Posh ones but even so.

They're a pile of wheaty nothingness

Watery, wheaty nothingness! 🤣 I can't believe water is the main ingredient!

Exactly. I can’t see why anyone thinks M&S is a good place to food shop. 80% of what is sells is disgusting. Where are the real ingredients? Do shoppers there not cook?? I find it baffling.

I follow a woman on Instagram who compares ingredients in like for like products in supermarkets, it's eye-opening.

They’ve always had higher fat levels and sugar levels. Their reputation is about taste not health.

You sure?
https://groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-specially-selected-pork-sausages-400g6-pack/4088600449821

https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-select-farms-british-6-pork-sausages-523895011?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20356506183&utm_content=non-brand&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADi6iHkH4o8O8fmJJ2up-rQ4-jsKx&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7Py4BhCbARIsAMMx-_KFyxWVwoErSIDaG69eiADWY_IVhV39zJFznHJyusXyNXjs8UNWGcMaApjlEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The two E numbers are raising agents.

But processed food is processed food. I barely buy any prepackaged stuff as it is not as healthy as what I can make myself but if I do I expect the more expensive M&S stuff to higher proportions of ingredients like meat and cheese and less filler.

M&S is no where near as nice as it used tobe though.