Flamingo shortbread
Unknown brand
Processing
4
Ultra-processed
Group 4 of 4 on the NOVA scale
Additives listed
4
0 we grade moderate or higher
2 of them not yet assessed here
Sugars per 100g
34g
High
UK FSA front of pack threshold
Three separate readings, kept apart on purpose. This is not a score, and none of it says this product is harmful.
Additives (4)
This label lists 2 colours and 1 emulsifier. 1 more we cannot place from the code alone.
E471
Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
Emulsifier
What it is. Fat derived emulsifiers, closely related to ordinary dietary fats.
Why it is used. One of the most used additives in food: bread, margarine, ice cream, cakes and sauces.
What the evidence says. The body handles these much as it handles other fats, and EFSA's re-evaluation raised no safety concern at the levels used. They sit in the same broad emulsifier and gut microbiome research question as the others, which remains unsettled.
Permitted without a numerical limit. The fat source is not always stated, which matters for some diets rather than for safety.
Assessed against EFSA. Full entry for E471
E160A
Carotenes
Yellow to orange colour
What it is. The orange pigments found in carrots and other vegetables, either extracted or made synthetically.
Why it is used. Colours margarine, soft drinks, dairy, and sweets.
What the evidence says. The same compound the body turns into vitamin A, and safe at the levels used in food. High dose beta-carotene supplements have been linked to harm in smokers, but those doses are far above anything a colour in food delivers, and conflating the two is a common mistake.
Permitted. The supplement findings apply to concentrated doses, not to food colouring.
Assessed against EFSA, JECFA. Full entry for E160A
Also on the label, not assessed here yet
- E152 Carbon black
- E162 Beetroot red, betanin colour
1 of these is not on the GB permitted list
E152 Carbon black — Not to be confused with E153 vegetable carbon, which is permitted and is the black colour normally used in food here.
Absent from Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II, the register of additives permitted in Great Britain. That is a statement about the food additive register and nothing else: several of these are permitted in medicines, where different rules apply, and this catalogue carries some entries that are not food. Our product data is crowd sourced and worldwide, so on something sold here a code from this list usually means an imported line, an out of date entry, or a mistake in the source rather than anything about the contents. It is not a statement that this product is unsafe, and the pack is the authority.
Names and jobs come from the register of additives permitted in Great Britain, which we have not finished transcribing: a code shown without a name is a gap in our coverage, not a finding that it is unapproved. Naming one is not grading it either. Full detail appears only where we have an assessment against a named authority, so all of this describes our coverage rather than these additives. Most are common and low concern.
Ingredients
wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar, palm oil, water, rapeseed oil, glucose syrup, colours (calcium carbonate, carotenes, carbon black, beetroot red), salt, emulsifier (e471), flavouring. allergy advice: for allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold. may also contain nuts, sesame, milk, egg and soya. suitable for vegans vegan
As printed on the pack, in the producer's own order: ingredients are listed by weight, so what comes first is most of what is in it. E numbers link to their assessment where we have one.