Is McVitie's Club Mint flavoured cream filled biscuit bar with a chocolate flavour coating ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 27 ingredients
- 8 additives
- Nutri-Score E
Less processed chocolate biscuits
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Choco Chip Biscuits
Gullón
1 ingredient · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Chocolate Gingers
Island Bakery
22 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
-
Oat Crumbles
Island Bakery
14 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
-
Duchy Organic Stem Ginger Biscuits Coated in Dark Chocolate
Duchy Organic
20 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
milk chocolate 49%, sugar (processing marker), cocoa mass, cocoa butter (processing marker), whey (ultra-processing marker), skimmed milk, butter oil, vegetable fats (processing marker) (sal andlor shea, palm), soya lecithin (ultra-processing marker), natural flavouring (ultra-processing marker), flour (wheat flour, calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), vegetable oil (processing marker) (palm vegetable oil), sugar (processing marker), glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), sodium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate (ultra-processing marker), ammonium bicarbonate, salt (processing marker), natural mint flavouring (ultra-processing marker)
Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate
As written on the pack
milk chocolate (49%) [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dried whey (milk), dried skimmed milk, butter oil (milk), vegetable fats (sal andlor shea, palm), emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural flavouring), flour (wheat flour, calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin), vegetable oil (palm), sugar, glucose syrup, raising agents (sodium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate, ammonium bicarbonate), salt, natural mint flavouring
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Among 16 biscuit with a chocolate bar covering
From least to most processed, this one ranks 9th. 94% of the biscuit with a chocolate bar covering here are ultra-processed.
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Butter Biscuits
Belmont · 125 g
NOVA group
4
-
Le Petit Chocolat
LU
NOVA group
4
-
Dark Choco Leibniz
Bahlsen · 125g
NOVA group
4
-
Viscount
Burtons Biscuit Co. · 196g
NOVA group
4
All 16 biscuit with a chocolate bar covering, least processed first
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 50137985, last edited 11 May 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.