Is it ultra-processed?
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Is McVitie's Digestives Gold ultra-processed?

232 grams Digestives covered with chocolate Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of McVitie's Digestives Gold

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 10 additives

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

Flour 39% (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Caramel Flavour Coating 28% (Sugar, Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea), Caramel (Skimmed Milk, Whey, Sug Milk Fat, Natural Flavouring), Lecithin, e471, Salt, Colours mation (Paprika Extract, Lutein), Natural Flavourings), Palm Oil, Wheat Flour 9%, Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sodium Bicarbonate, Malic Acid, Ammonium Bicarbonate, salt, including cereals containing gluten

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E161b Lutein , E296 Malic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Flour (39%) (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Caramel Flavour Coating (28%) [Sugar, Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea), Caramel Powder (Dried Skimmed Milk, Dried Whey (Milk) Sug Milk Fat, Natural Flavouring), Emulsifiers (Lecithin, E471), Salt, Colours mation (Paprika Extract, Lutein), Natural Flavourings], Palm Oil, Wholemeal Wheat Flour (9%), Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Malic Acid, Ammonium Bicarbonate), salt. For allergens, including cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold. May also contain Soya.

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.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E161b Lutein Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of 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.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 21st. 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 5000168002033, last edited 12 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.