Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Kirkland Triple Chocolate Muffin ultra-processed?

27 oz Chocolate cakes Sold in the United States

Pack of Kirkland Triple Chocolate Muffin

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:

  • 46 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolate cakes

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

sugar, flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), eggs, chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural flavors), butter (cream, milk, salt), soybean oil, chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), water, cocoa powder (alkalized), modified corn starch, dairy product, leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminium phosphate, sodium aluminum sulfate), salt, caramel color, mono, diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, natural flavors, enzymes, egg whites, soy flour

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E481 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E521 Aluminium sodium sulphate , E541 Sodium aluminium phosphate

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

As written on the pack

sugar, bleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), eggs, chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural flavors), butter (cream and/or milk, salt), soybean oil, chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), water, cocoa powder (alkalized), modified corn starch, dairy product solids (milk), leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminium phosphate, sodium aluminum sulfate), salt, caramel color, mono - , diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, natural flavors, enzymes, egg whites, soy flour

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.
  • 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.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
8 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • 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.
  • 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 67 chocolate cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 28th. 97% of the chocolate cakes 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 67 chocolate cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 18493337, last edited 31 July 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.