Non-UPF Mayonnaise You Can Buy in UK Supermarkets

Mayonnaise sounds as though it should be simple eh! Traditional recipes contain egg yolk, oil, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and salt. Yet many supermarket jars also contain modified starch, stabilising gums, preservatives, flavourings and colour extracts. Yuck. Finding a non-UPF mayonnaise can involve more label reading than anyone reasonably expects from a sandwich condiment. Fortunately, I’ve pulled together a list of several suitable products that are available in UK supermarkets. They range from affordable own-brand jars to premium mayonnaise made entirely with olive or avocado oil.

Remember, recipes can change, so please read the packaging before buying, particularly if you follow a strict non-UPF approach.

UPF Free Mayonnaise in the UK

Is Mayonnaise Ultra-Processed?

Mayonnaise is an emulsion, which means two liquids that would normally separate, oil and water, are combined into a stable mixture. That does not automatically make it ultra-processed. Traditional mayonnaise uses egg yolk to hold the mixture together. Egg yolk is an ordinary culinary ingredient that could be used in a home kitchen.

A simple mayonnaise may contain:

Olive, avocado, sunflower or rapeseed oil
Egg or egg yolk
Vinegar
Lemon juice
Mustard
Salt
Sugar
Herbs or spices

Ingredients that make a mayonnaise more likely to be classified as UPF include:

Modified starch
Xanthan gum or several other stabilising gums
Added flavourings
Preservatives
Maltodextrin
Protein isolates
Sweeteners
Colourings added primarily for appearance
Unspecified emulsifiers

The British Nutrition Foundation notes that classifying individual foods is not always straightforward. The complete formulation and purpose of its ingredients matter more than the fact that a product has been blended and put into a jar.

How These Mayonnaises Were Chosen

Every product in my guide has an ingredient list based on culinary oils, egg, vinegar, lemon, mustard, salt and other familiar seasonings. I’m avoiding the clearest UPF markers, including modified starch, xanthan gum, preservatives and added flavourings.

This is an ingredient-led assessment rather than an official certification. A product’s nutritional profile should also be considered separately: non-UPF mayonnaise remains an energy-dense condiment, and salt levels will vary. You need to decide whether these products suit your diet, but hopefully they steer you to more of a non-UPF mayonnaise choice in your sarnie.

Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise	Main oil	Why it stands out	Where to look
M&S Only 6 Ingredients Olive Oil Mayonnaise	Olive oil	Six familiar ingredients	M&S and Ocado
Hunter & Gather Avocado Oil Mayonnaise	Avocado oil	Four-ingredient recipe	Tesco and Waitrose
Hunter & Gather Olive Oil Mayonnaise	Olive oil	Four-ingredient olive-oil option	Tesco
Dr Will’s Avocado Oil Mayonnaise	Avocado oil	Simple sugar-free recipe	Tesco
Dr Will’s Olive Oil Mayonnaise	Olive oil	Olive and extra virgin olive oils	Tesco
Sainsbury’s SO Organic Mayonnaise	Sunflower oil	Accessible six-ingredient own brand	Sainsbury’s
Duchy Organic Mayonnaise	Sunflower oil	Simple Waitrose own-brand option	Waitrose
Kielecki Mayonnaise	Rapeseed oil	Large jar with a traditional Polish recipe	Tesco
The Foraging Fox Avocado & Lemon Mayo	Rapeseed and avocado oils	Familiar ingredients with extra lemon	Tesco and Waitrose

M&S Only 6 Ingredients Olive Oil Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

This M&S mayonnaise has one of the clearest recipes available:

Olive oil
Egg yolk
White wine vinegar
Water
Sea salt
Dried mustard

Olive oil accounts for 80% of the product. There is no modified starch, added flavouring, stabiliser, preservative or sugar.

The short recipe makes it one of the best non-UPF mayonnaise choices in this post. It is currently listed by Ocado as M&S Only 6 Ingredients Olive Oil Mayonnaise.

This is a particularly good choice for those who want olive oil rather than a mixture in which only a small proportion of the oil comes from olives.

Hunter & Gather Avocado Oil Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Hunter & Gather Classic Avocado Oil Mayonnaise contains only:

Avocado oil
Pasteurised British free-range egg yolk
Apple cider vinegar
Pink Himalayan salt

Avocado oil makes up 80% of the recipe and egg yolk accounts for 9%. There is no mustard, sugar, flavouring, modified starch or stabilising gum. Its four-ingredient recipe is published by Tesco.

The disadvantage is price. Avocado oil mayonnaise is considerably more expensive per gram than most sunflower- or rapeseed-oil alternatives. However, it may appeal to people who want an especially short ingredient list or prefer the flavour of avocado oil. We’ve had this a couple of times, and it is quite a distinctive flavour due to the avocado oil, but I really like it. It will come down to personal preference.

Hunter & Gather Olive Oil Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

The olive-oil version follows the same four-ingredient formula:

Olive oil
Pasteurised British free-range egg yolk
Apple cider vinegar
Pink Himalayan salt

Olive oil accounts for 80% of the product. Unlike some “with olive oil” mayonnaises, it does not use rapeseed or sunflower oil as its principal ingredient.

The complete Hunter & Gather Olive Oil Mayonnaise recipe is currently listed by Tesco.

Olive oil can give mayonnaise a more distinctive flavour than a neutral oil. That may work particularly well with roasted vegetables, potatoes and stronger sandwich fillings. Again, we quite like the taste on this, but you’ll need to try it for yourself.

Dr Will’s Avocado Oil Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Dr Will’s Avocado Oil Mayonnaise currently contains:

Avocado oil
Free-range egg yolk
Water
Apple vinegar
Concentrated lemon juice
Salt
Mustard flour
White pepper
White vinegar

Avocado oil accounts for 79% of the jar. The recipe contains no added sugar, starch, gum, flavouring or preservative.

Its ingredient list is slightly longer than Hunter & Gather’s version because it includes two vinegars, lemon, mustard and pepper. These are conventional seasonings rather than industrial cosmetic additives. The current Dr Will’s Avocado Oil Mayonnaise listing also shows 0.61g of salt per 100g.

Dr Will’s Olive Oil Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Dr Will’s Olive Oil Mayonnaise is made with:

Olive oil
Free-range pasteurised egg yolk
Extra virgin olive oil
Water
Apple vinegar
Concentrated lemon juice
Salt
Mustard
White pepper

Standard olive oil accounts for 69% of the recipe and extra virgin olive oil accounts for another 8%.

It does not contain added sugar, modified starch, gums, preservatives or flavourings. Tesco publishes the current Dr Will’s Olive Oil Mayo ingredient list. This provides a useful middle ground between an extremely short four-ingredient mayonnaise and a conventional supermarket jar.

Sainsbury’s SO Organic Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Sainsbury’s SO Organic Mayonnaise contains:

Sunflower oil
Egg yolk
Water
Spirit vinegar
Sugar
Salt

Sunflower oil accounts for 81% of the recipe and egg yolk accounts for 8%.

It has no stabiliser, modified starch, preservative, flavouring or colour. Its six-ingredient recipe also makes it one of the more affordable and accessible products in the guide. The current Sainsbury’s SO Organic Mayonnaise is sold in a 250ml jar. Organic certification does not automatically mean a food is non-UPF but for this non-UPF mayonnaise, the actual ingredients are simple.

Duchy Organic Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Duchy Organic Mayonnaise has a similarly short recipe:

Sunflower oil
Pasteurised free-range egg yolk
Water
Vinegar
Sugar
Salt

Egg yolk accounts for 8% of the product. There are no gums, modified starches, preservatives or flavourings.

The current Duchy Organic Mayonnaise is available from Waitrose. This is a great alternative to the Sainsbury’s organic jar for shoppers who regularly use Waitrose. Both are based on sunflower oil and contain a small amount of ordinary sugar.

Kielecki Mayonnaise – Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Kielecki is a Polish mayonnaise currently available from Tesco in 310ml and 700ml jars.

Its recipe contains:

Refined rapeseed oil
Mustard made from water, spirit vinegar, mustard seeds, sugar, salt and spices
Water
Hen egg yolks

The egg yolk content is 7%. The standard version contains no preservative, stabilising gum or modified starch.

The 700ml Kielecki Mayonnaise may be a good choice for larger households that would otherwise get through a small premium jar very quickly. When you are shopping for it, you’ll want to check that you are buying the standard version. Kielecki Light Mayonnaise has a substantially different recipe containing corn starch, oat fibre, an acidity regulator, preservative and sweetener.

The Foraging Fox Avocado and Lemon Mayonnaise

The Foraging Fox Avocado & Lemon Mayo contains:

Rapeseed oil
Avocado oil
Water
Free-range pasteurised egg yolk
Cider vinegar
Dijon mustard
Concentrated lemon juice

It does not contain added sugar, modified starch, gum, preservative or flavouring. Rapeseed oil accounts for 64% of the recipe, while avocado oil accounts for 11.5%. This is therefore not a pure avocado-oil mayonnaise, despite avocado appearing prominently in the product name.

The current Foraging Fox Avocado & Lemon Mayo ingredients remain consistent with a non-UPF mayonnaise. Its brighter lemon flavour may suit fish, prawns and salads particularly well.

Which Mayonnaises Need More Interpretation?

Some standard supermarket mayonnaises contain only one or two additional ingredients beyond a traditional recipe. That does not necessarily make them nutritionally poor, but it makes their classification less straightforward.

Standard Sainsbury’s Mayonnaise currently contains xanthan gum as a stabiliser.

Sainsbury’s Light Mayonnaise contains modified maize starch, corn starch and stabilisers. Its formulation is considerably longer than the full-fat version.

Essential Waitrose Mayonnaise contains mustard extract and paprika extract. Waitrose identifies natural flavouring and colouring among its additives.

Essential Waitrose Half Fat Mayonnaise contains modified maize starch, xanthan gum, lactic acid and sorbic acid.

The pattern is common: reducing the quantity of oil frequently requires more starch, water, gums or other ingredients to reproduce the consistency of full-fat mayonnaise.

These jars can still be convenient and may have fewer calories per serving. This guide is concerned specifically with processing rather than declaring individual foods “good” or “bad”.

Is Full-Fat Mayonnaise Less Processed Than Light Mayonnaise?

It often is, although the label should always decide the answer.

Traditional mayonnaise gets its thick texture from oil and egg yolk. When much of the oil is removed, manufacturers need another way to stop the product from becoming thin and watery.

Light mayonnaise may therefore include:

Modified starch
Ordinary starch
Xanthan gum
Cellulose gum
Preservatives
Sweeteners
Additional flavourings

A full-fat mayonnaise is more energy-dense, but it may have a simpler formulation. Processing level and calorie content are different considerations.

Are Rapeseed and Sunflower Oil Ultra-Processed?

Ordinary vegetable oils are processed culinary ingredients, but they are not automatically classified as ultra-processed.

Under NOVA, oils, butter, sugar and salt are generally placed in the processed culinary ingredient group rather than the ultra-processed group. Some people choose to avoid seed oils for separate dietary or environmental reasons. That preference should not be confused with UPF classification.

If avoiding seed oils is important to you, choose an option made entirely with olive or avocado oil. Check the percentages carefully: a mayonnaise described as being “with olive oil” may still contain substantially more rapeseed oil than you first thought.

How to Read a Mayonnaise Label

Start with the ingredient list rather than claims such as “organic”, “natural”, “real”, “light” or “made with avocado oil”. A traditional ingredient list will normally begin with oil, followed by egg or egg yolk, vinegar, water and seasonings.

Generally straightforward ingredients include:

Olive oil
Avocado oil
Rapeseed oil
Sunflower oil
Egg and egg yolk
Vinegar
Lemon juice
Mustard seeds or mustard flour
Salt
Sugar
Named herbs and spices
Ordinary cornflour

Ingredients needing closer consideration include:

Modified starch
Xanthan gum and other stabilising gums
Maltodextrin
Added flavourings
Preservatives such as potassium sorbate
Artificial sweeteners
Protein isolates
Unspecified emulsifiers
Colours or extracts used principally for appearance

Remember that mustard may be listed as a compound ingredient. Open the brackets and check what the mustard itself contains.

Easy Homemade Non-UPF Mayonnaise

A stick blender makes homemade mayonnaise considerably easier than adding oil drop by drop with a whisk. A versatile option is the Bamix Classic Stick Hand Blender, which includes a beater attachment for emulsifying sauces and dressings.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

This recipe makes approximately one small jar.

A small measuring jug can also make the recipe less fiddly, particularly when measuring the lemon juice or vinegar. This OXO mini measuring jug shows teaspoons, tablespoons and millilitres.

Ingredients

1 fresh British Lion egg
200ml light olive oil, avocado oil or neutral culinary oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
Black or white pepper, if wanted

Method

Put the whole egg into a tall, narrow blending beaker.
Add the mustard, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and oil.
Lower the stick blender to the bottom so it covers the egg.
Blend without moving it for approximately 10 seconds.
When a thick, pale emulsion forms at the bottom, slowly lift the blender.
Continue blending until all the oil has been incorporated.
Taste and add more lemon, vinegar or salt if needed.
Transfer the mayonnaise immediately to a clean, covered jar and refrigerate.

If the mayonnaise is too thick, blend in one teaspoon of cold water. If it splits, put a fresh egg yolk in another beaker and gradually blend the split mixture into it.

The flavour of extra virgin olive oil can become surprisingly bitter when blended vigorously. A milder olive oil is usually more suitable unless you particularly enjoy a strong, peppery mayonnaise.

Using Raw Eggs Safely

Homemade mayonnaise contains raw egg, so use fresh eggs and keep the finished jar refrigerated.

Current Food Standards Agency guidance says most people can eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs when they carry the British Lion mark or come from the Laid in Britain scheme. People who are severely immunocompromised and following a medically supervised diet may receive different advice. See the FSA home food guidance for the current position.

The NHS also confirms that foods made with raw British Lion eggs, including homemade mayonnaise, can be eaten during pregnancy. Eggs outside an approved scheme should be thoroughly cooked.

I suggest you make a modest quantity, use clean equipment, refrigerate it promptly and discard the mayonnaise if it develops an unusual smell, colour or separation. That way you always have fresh mayo for your sandwiches.

Easy Ways to Flavour Plain Mayonnaise

Starting with plain mayonnaise makes it easy to produce a different sauce for each meal.

Try mixing in:

Crushed garlic and lemon for quick aioli
Chopped chives or dill
Smoked paprika
Curry powder and mango chutney
Finely chopped capers – one of our personal favourites
Mustard and honey
Chilli flakes or a simple hot sauce
Mashed roasted garlic
Finely chopped gherkins – this is perfect with fish and chips
Fresh parsley and lemon zest

Add fresh ingredients only to the amount you plan to use. Introducing herbs, garlic or other moist ingredients may shorten its refrigerated life.

Ways to Use Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise can be used for much more than chips.

Try it in:

Egg mayonnaise sandwiches
Tuna salad
Potato salad
Coleslaw
Chicken sandwiches
Coronation chicken
Fish-finger sandwiches
Burger sauce
Tartare-style sauce
Pasta salad
Devilled eggs
Creamy salad dressing
Toasted sandwiches
Dips for vegetables
Coating for oven-baked chicken or fish

It pairs naturally with Life Loving’s non-UPF bread options and non-UPF wraps for quick lunches.

Frequently Asked Questions About Non-UPF Mayonnaise

Which Mayonnaise Has the Fewest Ingredients?

Hunter & Gather Avocado Oil Mayonnaise and Hunter & Gather Olive Oil Mayonnaise contain four ingredients: oil, egg yolk, apple cider vinegar and salt. M&S Only 6 Ingredients Olive Oil Mayonnaise is another exceptionally simple option.

What Is the Most Affordable Non-UPF Mayonnaise?

Sainsbury’s SO Organic and Duchy Organic are likely to be more economical than premium avocado- and olive-oil brands. Kielecki’s large 700ml jar may also offer better value for households using mayonnaise regularly. Compare the price per 100ml rather than the jar price because pack sizes vary quite a bit.

Is Hellmann’s Mayonnaise Ultra-Processed?

Recipes vary by product and can change. Some Hellmann’s products contain flavourings, stabilisers or other ingredients associated with ultra-processing. Check the exact jar rather than assuming the entire range has one classification.

Is Kielecki Mayonnaise Non-UPF?

The current standard Kielecki recipe contains rapeseed oil, prepared mustard, water and egg yolk without preservatives or stabilising gums. It’s a good example of a UPF free mayonnaise. Kielecki Light has a different formulation and contains several additional ingredients, including preservatives and sweetener.

Is Organic Mayonnaise Always Non-UPF?

No. Organic certification concerns how ingredients are produced; it does not guarantee a product is free from every UPF marker.

Sainsbury’s SO Organic and Duchy Organic happen to have simple recipes, but other organic products should still be checked individually.

Does Xanthan Gum Make Mayonnaise Ultra-Processed?

Xanthan gum is commonly used industrially to stabilise and thicken sauces. Under a strict NOVA interpretation, its presence makes a mayonnaise more likely to be classified as ultra-processed. Classification still considers the full formulation rather than using a single ingredient as an infallible test.

Is Avocado Oil Mayonnaise Better?

Avocado oil mayonnaise can offer a short ingredient list and may suit people avoiding seed oils. It is not automatically nutritionally superior, and it usually costs considerably more. Check whether avocado oil is the main oil. Some products combine a small quantity of avocado oil with a larger amount of rapeseed oil.

Can You Buy Non-UPF Vegan Mayonnaise?

It is harder to find because vegan mayonnaise cannot rely on egg yolk to create and maintain its texture. Many commercial versions use modified starches, gums or additional emulsifiers. A homemade version can be made using aquafaba (chickpea water), oil, vinegar, mustard and salt, although results depend on the concentration of the aquafaba.

Can Children Eat Homemade Mayonnaise?

Children can eat mayonnaise made with British Lion eggs or eggs produced under the Laid in Britain scheme, provided there are no relevant allergies and it has been prepared and stored hygienically. Egg and mustard are allergens, so check ingredients carefully when serving your youngsters.

Does Non-UPF Mean Low Calorie?

No. Traditional mayonnaise contains a high proportion of oil and is therefore high in calories. Non-UPF describes how a food is formulated and processed; it does not mean it is low in calories, fat or salt.

Which Non-UPF Mayonnaise Is Best?

M&S Only 6 Ingredients Olive Oil Mayonnaise has one of the clearest supermarket recipes and uses olive oil as 80% of the product.

Hunter & Gather provides the shortest ingredient lists, with both avocado- and olive-oil varieties. Dr Will’s offers similarly straightforward alternatives with lemon, mustard and pepper already included.

For a more affordable everyday jar, Sainsbury’s SO Organic and Duchy Organic are strong options. Kielecki is especially useful when a larger jar is required.

The Foraging Fox Avocado & Lemon Mayo provides a brighter, more seasoned alternative, although most of its oil is rapeseed rather than avocado.

Whichever product you choose, check the ingredients each time. Mayonnaise recipes are regularly reformulated, and a previously simple jar can acquire stabilisers or flavourings without an obvious change to its front label.