Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Chocolate flavoured milk ultra-processed?

1l Chocolate milks Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Chocolate flavoured milk

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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed chocolate milks

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

Cows' Milk 94%, Sugar, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder 1%, Milk Chocolate 0.5% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder), Maize Starch, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Stabilisers (Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Sulphate), Flavouring

Additives: E407 Carrageenan , E415 Xanthan gum , E516 Calcium sulphate

As written on the pack

Cows' Milk (94%), Sugar, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (1.0%), Milk Chocolate Powder (0.5%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Whole Cows' Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder), Maize Starch, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Stabilisers (Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Sulphate), Flavouring.

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.

  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • 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

Among 68 chocolate milks

From least to most processed, this one ranks 34th. 96% of the chocolate milks 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 68 chocolate milks, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01155280, 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 C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.