Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sahara Bites Dark Chocolate Dubai Chocolate ultra-processed?

119 g Chocolate candies Sold in the United States

Pack of Sahara Bites Dark Chocolate Dubai Chocolate

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:

  • 35 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

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

Sugar, fully hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder (cow), whey powder (cow), full cream milk powder (cow), pistachio fillings (non-hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm vegetable oil), skimmed milk powder (cow), full cream milk powder (cow), whey powder (cow), oil (palm oil, rapeseed oil), pistachio, natural color turmeric (e100i), artificial color brilliant blue (e133)), kunafa (wheat flour, water, cornstarch, salt, vegetable ghee), soya lecithin (e322), artificial vanillin

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E100i , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

Sugar, fully hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder (cow), whey powder (cow), full cream milk powder (cow), pistachio fillings (non-hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm), skimmed milk powder (cow), full cream milk powder (cow), whey powder (cow), fully hydrogenated palm , rapeseed oil, pistachio, natural color turmeric (E100 (i)), artificial color brilliant blue (E133)), kunafa (wheat flour, water, cornstarch, salt, vegetable ghee), soya lecithin (E-322), artificial vanillin

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • 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.

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.

  • Hydrogenated oil Hydrogenation turns liquid oil into a solid fat that resists going rancid.
  • 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.
  • Oil An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
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.

  • Chocolates Products in the category "Chocolates" are at least group 3.
  • 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 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 776 chocolate candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 557th. 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 776 chocolate candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00682282, last edited 5 October 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.