Is it ultra-processed?
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Is belvita baked bar ultra-processed?

4 x 40 g Cereal bars Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of belvita baked bar

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:

  • 55 ingredients
  • 7 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

Cereals 39% (cereals (WHEAT flour 15.499999999999996%, buckwheat grits 3.9999999999999996%, BARLEY flour 1.7999999999999998%, spelt flour 1.7999999999999998% (wheat), OAT flakes 1.4999999999999998%, malted WHEAT flour 0.5999999999999999%), WHEAT flour), sugar, vegetable oils (rapeseed vegetable oils, sunflower vegetable oils, palm vegetable oils), chocolate chips 7.5% (cocoa mass, sugar, dextrose, emulsifier (SOYA lecithins)), starch, stabiliser (glycerol), chicory root fibre, isomaltulose, orange peel 2.5%, glucose-fructose syrup, fructose-glucose syrup, glucose syrup, fruit preparation 0.5% (apple puree, peach puree, apricot puree, concentrated orange juice 0.05%), WHEAT fibre, emulsifiers (SOYA lecithins, lecithins), raising agent (sodium carbonates), honey, mineral (magnesium carbonates), salt, flavourings, skimmed MILK powder, acidity regulator (citric acid), gelling agent (pectins), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), thickener (xanthan gum)

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E415 Xanthan gum , E422 Glycerol , E440 Pectins , E500 Sodium carbonates

As written on the pack

Cereals 39 % [wholegrain cereals 25.2% (wholegrain WHEAT flour 15.5 %, wholegrain buckwheat grits 4 %, wholegrain BARLEY flour 1.8 %, wholegrain spelt flour (WHEAT) 1.8%, OAT flakes 1.5%, malted WHEAT flour 0.6 %), WHEAT flour 13.8 %], sugar, vegetable oils (rapeseed, sunflower, palm), chocolate chips 7.5 % [cocoa mass, sugar, dextrose, emulsifier (SOYA lecithins)], starch, stabiliser (glycerol), chicory root fibre, isomaltulose ***, orange peel pieces 2.5 %, glucose-fructose syrup, fructose-glucose syrup, glucose syrup, fruit preparation 0.5 % (concentrated apple puree, concentrated peach puree, concentrated apricot puree, concentrated orange juice 0.05 %), WHEAT fibre, emulsifiers (SOYA lecithins, lecithins), raising agent (sodium carbonates), honey, mineral (magnesium carbonates), salt, flavourings, skimmed MILK powder, acidity regulator (citric acid), gelling agent (pectins), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), thickener (xanthan gum). ***Isomaltulose is a source of glucose and fructose. MAY CONTAIN NUTS.

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.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • 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.
  • 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.
Show 2 more
  • Gelling agent Gelling agents such as pectin, gelatine or carrageenan set liquids into gels and stabilise textures.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.

  • Honey Honey, used as a sweetener.
  • 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 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 465th. 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 7622201747336, last edited 27 March 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.