Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut 4pk ultra-processed?

4 x 30 g Peanut bars Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut 4pk

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed peanut 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

Roasted peanuts 28%, rolled oats 13%, chicory root, glucose syrup, wheat flour, sugar, vegetable fats (palm, shea), maltodextrin, peanut butter 3%, fructose, sunflower oil, rice flour, whey powder, lactose, glycerol, salt, sunflower lecithin, soy lecithin, peanut flour, skimmed milk powder, natural flavourings, dextrose, wheat germ, tocopherol-rich extract, honey, Contains 4 portions

Additives: E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E422 Glycerol

As written on the pack

Roasted peanuts (28%), whole grain rolled oats (13%), chicory root extract, glucose syrup, wheat flour, sugar, vegetable fats (palm, shea), maltodextrin, peanut butter (3%), fructose, sunflower oil, rice flour, whey powder (milk), lactose (milk), humectant (glycerol), salt, emulsifiers (sunflower lecithin, soy lecithin), partially defatted peanut flour, skimmed milk powder, natural flavourings (contains milk), dextrose, wheat germ, antioxidant (tocopherol-rich extract), honey. For allergens, see ingredients in bold. May contain tree nuts. Contains 4 portions.

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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • 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.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • 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.
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  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
7 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 42 peanut bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 37th. 90% of the peanut 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 42 peanut bars, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8410076610812, last edited 27 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.
  • 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.