Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Marks & Spencer Peppermint creams ultra-processed?

150 g Chocolates Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Marks & Spencer Peppermint creams

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:

  • 9 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolates

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, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Mass Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Peppermint Oil, Humectant (Glycerol Invertase)

Additives: E1103 Invertase , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Mass Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Peppermint Oil, Humectant: Glycerol Invertase.

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.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • 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.

  • 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.
3 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.

  • Chocolates Products in the category "Chocolates" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 957 chocolates

From least to most processed, this one ranks 828th. 82% of the chocolates 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 957 chocolates, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00834506, last edited 6 June 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.