Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Alpen Chocolate carmel & shortbread imp ultra-processed?

120 g Shortbread Sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Pack of Alpen Chocolate carmel & shortbread imp

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:

  • 71 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed shortbread

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

Cereals 40% (Oats, Rice, Wheat), Oligofructose Syrup, Milk Chocolate 14% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass, Milk Powder, Milk Fat, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)), Cereal Flours (Rice, Wheat, Malted Barley), Caramel 4.5% (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Milk, Palm Oil, Shea Kernel Oil, Maize Starch, Humectant (Glycerol), Palm Stearin, Flavouring, Emulsifiers (Glycerol Monostearate, Sunflower Lecithin), Salt), Plain Chocolate 4.5% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier, Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Glucose Syrup, Humectant (Glycerol), Shortbread 1.5% (Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oils (Palm, Shea Kernel, Rapeseed), Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin)), Vegetable Oils (Contains Sunflower, Rapeseed), Sugar, Flavouring, Salt, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E422 Glycerol , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Cereals (40%) (Oats, Rice, Wheat), Oligofructose Syrup, Milk Chocolate (14%) (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass, Milk Powder, Milk Fat, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), Cereal Flours (Rice, Wheat, Malted Barley), Caramel Pieces (4.5%) (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Condensed Milk, Palm Oil, Shea Kernel Oil, Maize Starch, Humectant: Glycerol, Palm Stearin, Flavouring, Emulsifiers (Glycerol Monostearate, Sunflower Lecithin), Salt), Plain Chocolate (4.5%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier. Soya Lecithin, Flavouring). Glucose Syrup, Humectant: Glycerol, Shortbread Pieces (1.5%) (Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oils (Palm, Shea Kernel, Rapeseed), Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin) Vegetable Oils (Contains Sunflower and/or Rapeseed), Sugar, Flavouring, Salt, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin.

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.

  • 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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • 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 64 shortbread

From least to most processed, this one ranks 64th. 33% of the shortbread 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 64 shortbread, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5010029229837, last edited 29 July 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.