Is Girl Scouts thin mints ultra-processed?

255g Biscuits Sold in the United States

Pack of Girl Scouts thin mints

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:

  • 26 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

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

flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin b1 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin b2 (riboflavin), folic acid), sugar (processing marker), vegetable oil (processing marker) (palm kernel, soybean, palm oil), cocoa processed with alkali, caramel color, contains 2% and less of leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), cocoa, invert sugar (ultra-processing marker), cornstarch (processing marker), salt (processing marker), soy lecithin (ultra-processing marker), natural and artificial flavors (ultra-processing marker), oil of peppermint

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E341 Calcium phosphates , E341i Monocalcium phosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin b1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin b2 [riboflavin], folic acid), sugar, vegetable oil (palm kernel, soybean and palm oil), cocoa processed with alkali, caramel color, contains 2% or less of leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), cocoa, invert sugar, cornstarch, salt, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, oil of peppermint

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
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.

  • 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 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 909th. 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 0082011570710, last edited 6 May 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.