Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Marks & Spencers Milk Chocolate Oat Crunch ultra-processed?

Confectioneries Sold in Ireland

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:

  • 17 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed confectioneries

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

Rolled Oats, Milk Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass, Whey, Skimmed Milk, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Wheatflour, Light Brown Sugar, Palm Oil, Invert Sugar Syrup, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Rolled Oats, Milk Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass, Dried Whey, Dried Skimmed Milk, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Wholemeal Wheatflour, Light Brown Sugar, Palm Oil, Invert Sugar Syrup, Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt

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.

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.

  • 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.
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 1,732 confectioneries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 788th. 90% of the confectioneries 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 1,732 confectioneries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 29436095, 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.
  • 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.