Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Double Chocolate Brownie Mini Bites ultra-processed?

Brownies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Double Chocolate Brownie Mini Bites

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed brownies

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, Dark chocolate, Cocoa butter, Sugar, Cocoa mass, Fat reduced cocoa powder, Emulsifier, Soya lecithin, Fortified wheat flour, Niacin, Thiamin, Iron, Calcium carbonate, Wheat flour, Butter, Cow's milk, free range egg, Dark chocolate chunks, Cocoa butter, Emulsifier, Flavouring, Sugar, Cocoa mass, Glucose syrup, Fat reduced cocoa powder, Humectant, Vegetable glycerine, Salt

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E422 Glycerol

As written on the pack

Sugar, Dark chocolate, Cocoa butter, Sugar, Cocoa mass, Fat reduced cocoa powder, Emulsifier, Soya lecithin, Fortified wheat flour, Niacin, Thiamin, Iron, Calcium carbonate, Wheat flour, Butter, Cow's milk, Pasteurised free range egg, Dark chocolate chunks, Cocoa butter, Emulsifier, Flavouring, Sugar, Cocoa mass, Glucose syrup, Fat reduced cocoa powder, Humectant, Vegetable glycerine, 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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • 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.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.
4 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.
  • Sweet snacks Products in the category "Sweet snacks" are at least group 3.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 29 brownies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 15th. 93% of the brownies 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 29 brownies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00457859, last edited 23 April 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.