Is it ultra-processed?
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Is McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate ultra-processed?

266 g Digestives covered with chocolate Sold in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand

Pack of McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 8 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolate biscuits

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

Wheat Flour 35%, Dark Chocolate 30% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats, Butter Oil, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, 476), Natural Flavouring), Palm Oil, Wheat Flour 8%, Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Acidity regulator (296), Raising Agents (500ii, 503ii), Salt, Dark Chocolate contains min, cocoa solids 35%, Suitable for Lacto-ovo SUSTAINABLE CERTIFIED TM PALM 110 RSPO CERTIFIED

Additives: E296 Malic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate.

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour (35%), Dark Chocolate (30%) [Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats, Butter Oil (Milk), Cocoa Butter, Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, 476), Natural Flavouring], Palm Oil, Wholemeal Wheat Flour (8%), Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Acidity regulator (296), Raising Agents (500ii, 503ii), Salt. Contains Wheat, Gluten, Milk, Soy. Dark Chocolate contains min. 35% cocoa solids. Suitable for Lacto-ovo Vegetarians SUSTAINABLE CERTIFIED TM PALM 110 RSPO CERTIFIED

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.
  • E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) is an emulsifier made from castor oil.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
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.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 21 digestives covered with chocolate

From least to most processed, this one ranks 15th. 100% of the digestives covered with chocolate 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 21 digestives covered with chocolate, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000396054798, last edited 19 April 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.