Is Mars Bar ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 15 ingredients
- 2 additives
- Nutri-Score E
Less processed chocolate candies
-
Dark milk chocolate with blood orange
Marks & Spencer
6 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Dark Chocolate
Waitrose & Partners
3 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Almond Butter & Salted Caramel Cups
Deliciously Ella
12 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
chocolate orange dipped almonds
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7 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Sugar (processing marker), glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), skimmed milk powder (processing marker), cocoa butter, cocoa mass, sunflower oil (processing marker), whey permeate (ultra-processing marker), palm fat, milk fat, fat-reduced cocoa powder, barley malt extract, salt (processing marker), emulsifier (ultra-processing marker) (soya lecithin (ultra-processing marker)), egg white powder
Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin
As written on the pack
Sugar, glucose syrup, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter. cocoa mass, sunflower oil, whey permeate (milk), palm fat, milk fat, fat-reduced cocoa powder, barley malt extract, salt, emulsifier (soya lecithin), egg white powder. (May contain: peanuts and other nuts).
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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Among 773 chocolate candies
From least to most processed, this one ranks 462nd. 91% of the chocolate candies here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000159551823, last edited 28 February 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.