Is Mars High Protein Milk Drink ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 14 ingredients
- 7 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed chocolate milks
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Milk 75%, recombined whey 22%, whey powder (ultra-processing marker), cocoa powder 0.8%, modified starch (ultra-processing marker), barley malt extract, flavourings (ultra-processing marker), gellan gum (ultra-processing marker), cellulose (ultra-processing marker), cellulose gum (ultra-processing marker), salt (processing marker), sodium phosphates, acesulfame K (ultra-processing marker), sucralose (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E14XX Modified Starch , E339 Sodium phosphates , E418 Gellan gum , E460 Cellulose , E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose , E950 Acesulfame k , E955 Sucralose
As written on the pack
Milk 75%, recombined whey 22% (milk), whey powder (milk), cocoa powder 0.8%, modified starch, barley malt extract, flavourings, stabilisers (gellan gum, cellulose, cellulose gum), salt, acidity regulator (sodium phosphates), sweeteners (acesulfame K, sucralose).
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.
- E14xx Modified Starch Modified starches (E1400 to E1452) are starches treated physically, with enzymes or chemically so that they thicken and hold up to heating, freezing or acidity better than ordinary starch.
- E418 Gellan gum Stabilisers are substances which make it possible to maintain the physico-chemical state of a foodstuff; stabilisers include substances which enable the maintenance of a homogenous dispersion of two or more immiscible substances in a foodstuff, substances which stabilise, retain or intensify an existing colour of a foodstuff and substances which increase the binding capacity of the food, including the formation of cross-links between proteins enabling the binding of food pieces into re-constituted food.
- E460 Cellulose A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
- E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose Carboxymethyl cellulose is a thickener made by chemically modifying cellulose from wood or cotton.
- E950 Acesulfame k Acesulfame K is a synthetic sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with aspartame or sucralose.
- E955 Sucralose Sucralose is a sweetener made by chlorinating sugar.
Show 2 more
- Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
- Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
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.
- 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.
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.
Among 68 chocolate milks
From least to most processed, this one ranks 66th. 96% of the chocolate milks here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5060402902697, last edited 23 August 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 D (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.