Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Aldi Benefit Jaffa ultra-processed?

5x19g Cereal bars Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Aldi Benefit Jaffa

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:

  • 58 ingredients
  • 8 additives

Less processed cereal bars

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

Fructo-oligosaccharides, Oat Flakes, Wheat Flakes (Rice, Whole Wheat, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Barley Malt Extract, Wheat Flour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Wheat Germ, Salt), orange 9% (Apple Juice, Fructose-Glucose Syrup, Glucose Syrup, orange juice 7%, Sugar, Wheat Fibre, Humectant (Glycerol), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Acid (Citric Acid), Vegetable Fats (Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Flavourings), dark chocolate 7% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Butter, Emulsifiers (Lecithins, Soya), Sunflower, Flavourings), Crispy Cereals (Rice Flour, Wheat Flour, Barley Malt Extract), Dried Glucose Syrup, Sunflower Oil, Stabiliser (Sorbitols), Acid (Citric Acid), Flavourings, Colour (Plain Caramel), Emulsifier (Lecithins), Antioxidant (Tocopherol-Rich Extract)

Additives: E150a Plain caramel , E300 Ascorbic acid , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E420 Sorbitol , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins

As written on the pack

Fructo-oligosaccharides, Oat Flakes, Wholegrain Wheat Flakes (Rice, Whole Wheat, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Barley Malt Extract, Wheat Flour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Wheat Germ Flour, Salt), DRIED ORANGE PIECES (9%) (Apple Juice Concentrate, Fructose-Glucose Syrup, Glucose Syrup, ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE (7%), Sugar, Wheat Fibre, Humectant: Glycerol; Gelling Agent: Pectin; Acid: Citric Acid; Vegetable Fats (Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil), Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid; Flavourings), DARK CHOCOLATE (7%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass*, Cocoa Butter*, Butter (Milk), Emulsifiers: Lecithins (Soya, Sunflower); Flavourings), Crispy Cereals (Rice Flour, Wheat Flour, Barley Malt Extract), Dried Glucose Syrup, Sunflower Oil, Stabiliser: Sorbitols; Acid: Citric Acid; Flavourings, Colour: Plain Caramel; Emulsifier: Lecithins (Soya); Antioxidant: Tocopherol-Rich Extract.

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.
  • E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
  • E420 Sorbitol Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and to keep products moist.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E440 Pectins Pectins are gelling agents extracted from citrus peel or apple pomace.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
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  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.
  • 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.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
  • 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.
7 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 487 cereal bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 471st. 91% of the cereal bars 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 487 cereal bars, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600214177, last edited 2 August 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.