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Is Mcvitie's Hobnobs Milk Chocolate & Golden Syrup Oaty Snack ultra-processed?

Cereal bars Sold in Australia and France

Pack of Mcvitie's Hobnobs Milk Chocolate & Golden Syrup Oaty Snack

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:

  • 52 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed cereal bars

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

rolled oats 34%, glucose syrup, milk chocolate 12%, stuga coe butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk, whey (miik), butter oil (vegetable fats (shea, palm), soya lecithin, e476, natural flavouring, vegetable oil (palm vegetable oil), wheat flakes 4.5%, wheat flour, est an, sugar, nation per bar 128 barley malt extract, salt, honey), crisped cereals 4.5%, wer sat four, rice flour, sugar, vegetable oil (rapeseed vegetable oil), salt, calciur u rusifier (soya lecithin), wheat flour 4.5%, sugar, maftodextrin, water, partially inverted sugar syrup, emus e472e, flour (wheat flour, calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate), natural flavo lose-fructose syrup, product contains 21% hobnobs biscuit pieces, induding cereals containing gluten, dicenne), asing agents pack

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E472e Mono- and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids.

As written on the pack

rolled oats (34%), glucose syrup, milk chocolate (12%) [stuga coe butter, cocoa mass, dried skimmed milk, dried whey (miik), butter oil (, vegetable fats (shea, palm), emulsifiers (soya lecithin, e476), natural flavouring, vegetable oil (palm), wheat flakes (4.5%) wheat flour, est an, sugar, nation per bar 128 barley malt extract, salt, honey), crisped cereals (4.5%) [wer sat four, rice flour, sugar, vegetable oil (rapeseed), salt, calciur u rusifier (soya lecithin)), wholemeal wheat flour (4.5%), sugar, maftodextrin, water, partially inverted sugar syrup, emus e472e), flour (wheat flour, calcium, iron, niacin, thiamin (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate), natural flavo lose-fructose syrup. product contains 21% hobnobs biscuit pieces. for allergens, induding cereals containing gluten, see ingredients in bold. may also contain nuts, sesame seeds. dicenne), asing agents pack: 6

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.

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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • 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.
6 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.

  • Honey Honey, used as a sweetener.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 488 cereal bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 392nd. 91% of the cereal bars 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 488 cereal bars, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000168197760, last edited 13 March 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.