Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Nairn's Dark Chocolate Chip Oat Biscuits ultra-processed?

200 g Chocolate biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland and 2 more countries

Pack of Nairn's Dark Chocolate Chip Oat Biscuits

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:

  • 20 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

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

Oats 59%, Dark Chocolate Chips 9% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Soya Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavouring), Sustainable Palm Fruit Oil, Brown Sugar, Dark Chocolate 5% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder), Partially Inverted Refiners Syrup, Dietary Fibre (Oligofructose), Barley Malt Syrup, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sea Salt, Natural Cocoa Flavouring

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Wholegrain Oats (59%), Dark Chocolate Chips (9%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavouring), Sustainable Palm Fruit Oil, Brown Sugar, Dark Chocolate Powder (5%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder), Partially Inverted Refiners Syrup, Dietary Fibre (Oligofructose), Barley Malt Syrup, Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate, Sea Salt, Natural Cocoa 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.
  • 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.

  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
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 301 chocolate biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 53rd. 95% of the chocolate biscuits 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 301 chocolate biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0061232202556, last edited 8 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.