Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Cadbury High Lights Milk Choc Drink ultra-processed?

Instant chocolate powders Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Cadbury High Lights Milk Choc Drink

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:

  • 34 ingredients
  • 6 additives

Less processed instant chocolate powders

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

Fat-reduced cocoa powder 34%, whey powder (from MILK), soluble maize fibre, skimmed MILK powder, inulin, MILK chocolate 3.5% (milk, sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, vegetable fats (palm, shea), emulsifier (e442), flavourings), glucose syrup, palm oil, salt, anti-caking agent (es51), thickener (e407), acidity regulator (potassium carbonates), MILK protein, flavouring, sweeteners (e950, sucralose), emulsifier (e471), sugar

Additives: E407 Carrageenan , E442 Ammonium phosphatides , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E501 Potassium carbonates , E950 Acesulfame k , E955 Sucralose

As written on the pack

Fat-reduced cocoa powder (34 %), whey powder (from MILK), soluble maize fibre, skimmed MILK powder, inulin, MILK chocolate (3.5%) (MILK, sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, vegetable fats (palm, shea), emulsifier (E442), flavourings), glucose syrup, palm oil, salt, anti-caking agent (ES51), thickener (E407), acidity regulator (potassium carbonates), MILK protein, flavouring, sweeteners (E950, sucralose), emulsifier (E471), sugar.

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.

  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • E442 Ammonium phosphatides 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.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
  • E955 Sucralose Sucralose is a sweetener made by chlorinating sugar.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
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  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
  • 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.
  • 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.
5 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.

  • Anti-caking agent Anti-caking agents are substances which reduce the tendency of individual particles of a foodstuff to adhere to one another.
  • 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.
  • 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 51 instant chocolate powders

From least to most processed, this one ranks 50th. 88% of the instant chocolate powders 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 51 instant chocolate powders, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 7622202023804, last edited 2 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.