Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's 4 Chunky Belgian Chocolate Shortbread ultra-processed?

Shortbread Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's 4 Chunky Belgian Chocolate Shortbread

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:

  • 27 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed shortbread

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

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Butter (Cows' Milk), Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks 15% (Sugar, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate Chunks 10% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Cornflour, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Salt

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Butter (Cows' Milk), Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks (15%) (Sugar, Whole Cows' Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate Chunks (10%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Cornflour, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Raising Agents: Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate; Salt.

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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
6 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.
  • 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 64 shortbread

From least to most processed, this one ranks 58th. 33% of the shortbread 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 64 shortbread, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01051049, last edited 8 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.