Is it ultra-processed?
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Is belVita BREAKFAST Choc Chips ultra-processed?

225 g Chocolate biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom and Portugal

Pack of belVita BREAKFAST Choc Chips

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:

  • 39 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed chocolate biscuits

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 73.8% (wheat flour 46.8%, cereals 27% (oat flakes 11.9%, oat 5.8%, rye flour 3.8%, wheat flour 3.5%, spelt flour 1% (wheat), barley flour 1%)), sugar, rapeseed oil, chocolate chips 5% (sugar, cocoa mass, vegetable fats (palm, shea in varying proportions), dextrose, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithins)), bulking agent (polydextrose), raising agents (ammonium carbonates, sodium carbonates, disphosphates), wheat starch, minerals (calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, elemental iron), salt, flavourings, skimmed milk powder, emulsifiers (e472e, soya lecithins)

Additives: E1200 Polydextrose , E322 Lecithins , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

Cereals 73.8 % [wheat flour 46.8 %, wholegrain cereals 27 % (oat flakes 11.9 %, oat grits 5.8 %, wholegrain rye flour 3.8 %, wholegrain wheat flour 3.5 %, wholegrain spelt flour (wheat) 1 %, wholegrain barley flour 1 %)], sugar, rapeseed oil, chocolate chips 5% [sugar, cocoa mass, vegetable fats (palm and shea in varying proportions ), dextrose, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithins)], bulking agent (polydextrose), raising agents (ammonium carbonates, sodium carbonates, disphosphates), wheat starch, minerals (calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, elemental iron), salt, flavourings, skimmed milk powder, emulsifiers (E472e, soya lecithins). May contain egg, nuts, sesame.

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.
  • E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • Bulking agent Bulking agents are substances which contribute to the volume of a foodstuff without contributing significantly to its available energy value.
  • 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.

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.
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.
  • 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.
  • 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 301 chocolate biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 214th. 95% of the chocolate biscuits 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 301 chocolate biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7622210689382, 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.
  • 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.