Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Borders Viennese whirls ultra-processed?

150g Shortbread cookies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Borders Viennese whirls

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed shortbread cookies

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), Milk Chocolate 22% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Whey, Powder, Lactose, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)), Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Palm Vegetable Oil, Rapeseed Vegetable Oil), Butter, Cornflour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Free Range Whole Egg, Natural Flavouring, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Carbonate), Salt

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500i Sodium carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour (Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Milk Chocolate (22%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Whey (Milk) Powder, Lactose, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Palm, Rapeseed), Butter, Cornflour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Free Range Whole Egg Powder, Natural Flavouring, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Carbonate), Salt. Allergy Advice: For allergens including cereals conta na oluten see ingredie

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.
  • 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.

  • 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.
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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • 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 87 shortbread cookies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 84th. 45% of the shortbread cookies 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 87 shortbread cookies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0652655001132, 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.