Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Balconi Snack Latte ultra-processed?

280 g, Sponge cakes Sold in the United Kingdom and Germany

Pack of Balconi Snack Latte

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed desserts

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

sugar, wheat flour 23%, eggs 14.5%, glucose-fructose syrup, vegetable fats (palm, palm kernel, coconut in varying proportions), skimmed milk 5%, skimmed milk powder 2.5%, vegetable oils (sunflower vegetable oils), flavourings, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, soya lecithins, milk powder 0.6%, salt, lactose, whey powder, ammonium hydrogen carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, disodium diphosphate, milk proteins, wheat fibre

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

sugar, wheat flour (23%), eggs (14,5%), glucose-fructose syrup, vegetable fats (palm, palm kernel, coconut in varying proportions), reconstituted skimmed milk (5%), skimmed milk powder (2,5%), vegetable oils (sunflower), flavourings, emulsifiers: mono - and diglycerides of fatty acids, soya lecithins, milk powder (0,6%), salt, lactose (milk), whey powder (milk), raising agents: ammonium hydrogen carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, disodium diphosphate, milk proteins, wheat fibre, may contain traces of nuts and mustard,

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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
  • 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.
6 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.
  • 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 13 sponge cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 7th. 100% of the sponge cakes 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 13 sponge cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8001585001101, last edited 8 September 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.