Is it ultra-processed?
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Is M&M's Crispy M&Ms ultra-processed?

Bonbons Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of M&M's Crispy M&Ms

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 10 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed bonbons

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, cocoa mass, rice flour 10%, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, palm kernel fat, lactose, palm fat, milk fat, barley malt extract, shea fat, salt, e100, carmine, e133, e160a, e160e, e171, glucose syrup, starch, soya lecithin, dextrin, dextrose, carnauba wax, flavourings, palm kernel oil, solids 14% minimum milk chocolate contains vegetable fats in addition to cocoa butter

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E120 Cochineal , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E1400 Dextrin , E160a Carotene , E160e Beta-apo-8′-carotenal (c30) , E171 Titanium dioxide , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E903 Carnauba wax

As written on the pack

sugar, cocoa mass, rice flour (10%), skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, palm kernel fat, lactose, palm fat, milk fat, barley malt extract, shea fat, salt, colours (e100, carmine, e133, e160a, e160e, e171), glucose syrup, starch, emulsifier (soya lecithin), dextrin, dextrose, glazing agent (carnauba wax), flavourings, palm kernel oil, (may contain: peanut, hazelnut, almond), milk chocolate contains milk solids 14% minimum milk chocolate contains vegetable fats in addition to cocoa butter

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E120 Cochineal Carmine is a red colour made from cochineal insects.
  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E160e Beta-apo-8′-carotenal (c30) Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
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  • E171 Titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide is a white pigment.
  • 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.
  • E903 Carnauba wax Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of a Brazilian palm and gives sweets and coated chocolates their shine.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
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.

  • 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.
  • 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 193 bonbons

From least to most processed, this one ranks 181st. 94% of the bonbons 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 193 bonbons, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000159520218, last edited 14 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.