Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Border Biscuits Sharing Pack 400G ultra-processed?

400 g Biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France

Pack of Border Biscuits Sharing Pack 400G

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:

  • 50 ingredients
  • 8 additives

Less processed 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

wheat flour (calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar, milk, plain chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, lactose, whey, powder, soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavouring), butter, vegetable oil (palm vegetable oil, palm kernel vegetable oil, rapeseed vegetable oil), rolled oats, sultanas, cornflour, butterscotch chips (sugar, glucose syrup, brown sugar, vegetable fat (shea kernel oil), palm oil, sunflower lecithin in varying proportions, butter, milk skimmed sweet, salt, soya lecithin, sugar lcing, natural flavour), golden syrup, ammonium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate, salt, whole egg powder, skimmed milk powder, cocoa powder, natural flavouring, including cereals containing gluten, also

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

wheat flour (calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), sugar, milk and plain chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, lactose (milk), whey (milk) powder, emulsifier: soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavouring), butter, vegetable oil (palm, palm kernel, rapeseed in varying proportions), rolled oats, sultanas, cornflour, butterscotch chips (sugar, glucose syrup, brown sugar, vegetable fat: shea kernel oil, palm oil, sunflower lecithin in varying proportions, butter, milk skimmed sweet and condensed salt, emulsifier: soya lecithin, sugar lcing, natural flavour), golden syrup, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate, sodium bicarbonate), salt, whole egg powder, skimmed milk powder, cocoa powder, natural flavouring, allergy advice: for allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold, also, may contain nut, sesame seeds and barley

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • 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.
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 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1349th. 83% of the 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 1,514 biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0652655000654, last edited 20 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.