Is NuGo Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip ultra-processed?

1,76 oz Candy chocolate bars Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E322 Lecithins
E414 Acacia gum

20 ingredients
3 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed candy chocolate bars

70% Peruvian Cacao Dark Chocolate Bar Trader Joe's 2 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds Trader Joe's 5 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
Cacao Crunch Organic Dark Chocolate Taza Chocolate 4 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3
lemon bar Larabar 6 ingredients · no additives NOVA group 3

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

dark chocolate (chocolate, cane sugar (processing marker), cocoa butter), soy crisp (soy protein, tapioca starch (processing marker), salt (processing marker)), tapioca syrup, agave syrup, chocolate rice crisp (rice flour, cane sugar (processing marker), alkalized cocoa, salt (processing marker)), soy protein isolate, gum acacia (ultra-processing marker), natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), tapioca starch (processing marker), soy lecithin (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E414 Acacia gum

As written on the pack

DARK CHOCOLATE (UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, CANE SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER), SOY CRISP (SOY PROTEIN, TAPIOCA STARCH, SALT), TAPIOCA SYRUP, AGAVE SYRUP, CHOCOLATE RICE CRISP (RICE FLOUR, CANE SUGAR, ALKALIZED COCOA, SALT), SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, GUM ACACIA, NATURAL FLAVORS, TAPIOCA STARCH, SOY LECITHIN.

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.
E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 201 candy chocolate bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 83rd. 94% of the candy chocolate 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 201 candy chocolate bars, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0691535521018, last edited 22 June 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.