Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Belgian milk chocolate ultra-processed?

Milk chocolates Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Belgian milk 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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed milk chocolates

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 90% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Mass, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin)), Flavouring, Pretzel Pieces 6% (Wheat Flour, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Malted Wheat Flour, Yeast, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Hydroxide)), Honeycomb 4% (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate)), Sea Salt

Additives: E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E524 Sodium hydroxide

As written on the pack

Milk Chocolate (90%) (Sugar, Cocoa Butter*, Whole Cows' Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass*, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin) Flavouring), Pretzel Pieces (6%) (Wheat Flour, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Malted Wheat Flour, Yeast, Acidity Regulator: Sodium Hydroxide), Honeycomb (4%) (Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate), Sea 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.

  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • 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.
5 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.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 279 milk chocolates

From least to most processed, this one ranks 236th. 93% of the milk chocolates 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 279 milk chocolates, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00453745, last edited 27 March 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.