Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Reece's Peanut Butter Creme Egg ultra-processed?

Chocolate candies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Reece's Peanut Butter Creme Egg

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
  • 5 additives

Less processed chocolate candies

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

Milk Chocolate Flavour Coating 60% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Skimmed Milk Powder, Milk Fat, Lactose, Emulsifiers, Soya Lecithin (e322), Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate (e476)), Peanut Butter Crème Center 40% (Peanuts, Sugar, Dextrose, Cocoa Butter, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Palm Vegetable Oil, Palm Vegetable Oil), Kernel, Salt, Cornstarch, Antioxidant, tbhq (e319), Acidity Regulator, Citric Acid (e330)), Produced from Genetically Modified Sugar Beets, Corn, Soya Beans

Additives: E319 Tertiary-butylhydroquinone (tbhq) , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate

As written on the pack

Milk Chocolate Flavour Coating (60%) [Sugar*; Cocoa Butter; Cocoa Mass; Skimmed Milk Powder; Milk Fat; Lactose (Milk); Emulsifiers, Soya Lecithin* (E322), Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate (E476)], Peanut Butter Crème Center (40%) [Peanuts; Sugar*; Dextrose; Cocoa Butter; Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Palm and Palm Kernel); Salt; Cornstarch*; Antioxidant, TBHQ (E319), Acidity Regulator, Citric Acid (E330)], *Produced from Genetically Modified Sugar Beets, Corn and Soya Beans

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.
  • E476 Polyglycerol polyricinoleate Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) is an emulsifier made from castor oil.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.

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.
  • Hydrogenated oil Hydrogenation turns liquid oil into a solid fat that resists going rancid.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
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.

  • 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.
  • 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 773 chocolate candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 600th. 91% of the chocolate candies 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 773 chocolate candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 75072698, last edited 21 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.