Is it ultra-processed?
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Is By Sainsbury's 4 Chocolate Chunk Muffins ultra-processed?

276 g Muffins Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of By Sainsbury's 4 Chocolate Chunk Muffins

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:

  • 30 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed muffins

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

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Milk Chocolate Chunks 15% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Cows' Milk, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)), Water, Egg, Humectant (Vegetable Glycerine), Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Cornflour, Wheat Starch, Raising Agents (Diphosphates, Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate), Cows' Milk Proteins, Flavouring

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E501 Potassium carbonates , E501ii Potassium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Milk Chocolate Chunks 15% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Whole Cows' Milk Powder, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)), Water, Egg, Humectant (Vegetable Glycerine), Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Cornflour, Wheat Starch, Raising Agents (Diphosphates, Potassium Hydrogen Carbonate), Cows' Milk Proteins, Flavouring.

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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.

  • 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.
3 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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 49 muffins

From least to most processed, this one ranks 32nd. 90% of the muffins 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 49 muffins, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01142280, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.