Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Highland Speciality Chocolate Chip Shortbread ultra-processed?

135g Shortbread cookies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Highland Speciality Chocolate Chip Shortbread

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:

  • 21 ingredients
  • 7 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, Vegetable oil (palm oil, rapeseed oil), Sugar, Chocolate chips 5% (cocoa mass, sugar, SOYA lecithin, natural vanilla flavour), Full cream MILK powder, Cornflour, Salt, Butter, Natural butter flavour, Emulsifier (e481), Raising agent (sodium bicarbonate), Natural colouring (beta carotene)

Additives: E160a Carotene , E160ai Beta-carotene , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

WHEAT flour, Vegetable oil (palm oil, rapeseed oil), Sugar, Chocolate chips 5% (cocoa mass, sugar, SOYA lecithin, natural vanilla flavour), Full cream MILK powder, Cornflour, Salt, Butter (MILK), Natural butter flavour (MILK), Emulsifier E481, Raising agent sodium bicarbonate, Natural colouring (beta carotene).

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.

  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • 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.
  • E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.
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 85th. 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 5010909007678, 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.