Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Reese's Reese’s peanut butter cups ultra-processed?

46g Sold in the United States and Saudi Arabia

Pack of Reese's Reese’s peanut butter cups

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:

  • 29 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

chocolate flavour coating 52%, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder (cow's milk), milk fat (cow's milk), lactose (cow's milk), emulsifiers, soya lecithin (e322), polyglycerol polyricinoleate (e476), from castor bean oil (peanut butter creme center, peanuts), sugar (dextrose), salt, antioxidant (tbhq (e319)), acidity regulator, citric acid (e330), produced from genetically modified sugar beets, and SOYA

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

As written on the pack

CHOCOLATE FLAVOUR COATING (52%) [SUGAR*; COCOA BUTTER; COCOA MASS; SKIMMED MILK POWDER (COW'S MILK); MILK FAT(COW'S MILK); LACTOSE (COW'S MILK); EMULSIFIERS (SOYA LECITHIN* (E322), POLYGLYCEROL POLYRICINOLEATE (E476) FROM CASTOR BEAN OIL: PEANUT BUTTER CREME CENTER (48%) PEANUTS: SUGAR: DEXTROSE; SALT; ANTIOXIDANT TBHQ (E319); ACIDITY REGULATOR, CITRIC ACID (E330). *PRODUCED FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED SUGAR BEETS, AND SOYA

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.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
3 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.
  • 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

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0034000443505, last edited 25 February 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.