Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Kellogg's Special K Milk Chocolate ultra-processed?

Chocolate cereal bars Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Kellogg's Special K Milk Chocolate

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:

  • 66 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cereal bars

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

uk rl wholewheat flakes, cereal, milk chocolate pieces in a bar dipped in a smooth milk chocolate layer, with vitamins, ingredients (cereals, wholewheat 31%), whole oats 5.5%, milk chocolate 14% (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, emulsifiers (soy lecithin, e476), natural vanilla flavouring), cereal crispies 11% (wholewheat flour, rice flour, sugar, malted barley flour, malted wheat flour, salt, rapeseed oil, stabiliser (calcium carbonate), emulsifier (soy lecithin)), oligofructose, glucose syrup, fructose, sugar, milk chocolate chunks 2.5% (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), natural flavouring), humectants (sorbitol, glycerol), palm oil, barley malt extract, dextrose, salt, antioxidant (tocopherol rich extract), natural flavouring, emulsifier (soy lecithin), niacin, iron, vitamins, vitamin b6, riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid, vitamin d, vitamin β12, from other cereals, best before (see top)

Additives: E170 Calcium carbonates , E170i Calcium carbonate , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E420 Sorbitol , E422 Glycerol , E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate

As written on the pack

uk rl wholewheat flakes, cereal and milk chocolate pieces in a bar dipped in a smooth milk chocolate layer, fortified with vitamins. ingredients: wholegrain cereals(wholewheat(31%), whole oats(5.5%)), milk chocolate(14%)(sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, emulsifiers{soy lecithin, e476}, natural vanilla flavouring), cereal crispies(11%)(wholewheat flour, rice flour, sugar, malted barley flour, malted wheat flour, salt, rapeseed oil, stabiliser{calcium carbonate}, emulsifier{soy lecithin}), oligofructose, glucose syrup, fructose, sugar, milk chocolate chunks(2.5%)(sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, emulsifier{soy lecithin}, natural flavouring), humectants(sorbitol, glycerol), palm oil, barley malt extract, dextrose, salt, antioxidant(tocopherol rich extract), natural flavouring, emulsifier(soy lecithin), niacin, iron, vitamin b6, riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid, vitamin d, vitamin β12. for allergens see ingredients highlighted in bold. may contain gluten from other cereals. best before: see top.

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.

  • E170 Calcium carbonates Calcium carbonate is chalk.
  • 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.
  • E420 Sorbitol Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and to keep products moist.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) is an emulsifier made from castor oil.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
4 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • 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 62 chocolate cereal bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 60th. 100% of the chocolate cereal bars 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 62 chocolate cereal bars, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059321004698, 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.