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Is M&S Food shortcake biscuits fully coated in milk chocolate (79%) ultra-processed?

200 g Milk chocolate biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of M&S Food shortcake biscuits fully coated in milk chocolate (79%)

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolate 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

Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Wheatflour (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Cocoa Mass, Whey, Palm Oil, Skimmed Milk, Soya Lecithin, Glucose Syrup, Salt, Golden Syrup (Invert Sugar Syrup), e450, Sodium Bicarbonate, e503, Flavourings, Milk Chocolate contains Cocoa Solids 28%, Milk 16%

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates

As written on the pack

Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Wheatflour (with Wheatflour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Cocoa Mass, Dried Whey (Milk), Palm Oil, Dried Skimmed Milk, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Glucose Syrup, Salt, Golden Syrup (Invert Sugar Syrup), Raising Agent: E450, Sodium Bicarbonate, E503, Flavourings. Milk Chocolate contains Cocoa Solids 28% minimum, Milk Solids 16% minimum.

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.

  • 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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
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.
  • 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 18 milk chocolate biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 13th. 100% of the milk chocolate 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 18 milk chocolate biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00156707, last edited 12 April 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.