Is Sainsbury's Free From Chocolate Chip Cookies ultra-processed?

150g Chocolate chip cookies Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
Invert sugar
E322 Lecithins
E415 Xanthan gum
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

23 ingredients
8 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolate chip cookies

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

Oat Flour, Chocolate Chips 18% (Cocoa Mass, Sugar (processing marker), Cocoa Butter (processing marker), Sunflower Lecithin (ultra-processing marker)), Sugar (processing marker), Palm Oil, Margarine (Palm Fat, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Palm Oil, Salt (processing marker), mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids (ultra-processing marker)), Tapioca Flour (processing marker), Rice Flour, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup (ultra-processing marker), Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate, Xanthan Gum (ultra-processing marker), Flavouring (ultra-processing marker), Cocoa solids 53%

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E415 Xanthan gum , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Gluten Free Oat Flour, Chocolate Chips (18%) (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin), Sugar, Palm Oil, Margarine (Palm Fat, Rapeseed Oil., Water, Palm Oil, Salt, Emulsifier: Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Tapioca Flour, Rice Flour, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Raising Agents: Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate; Stabiliser: Xanthan Gum; Flavouring. Cocoa solids 53% minimum.

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.
E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
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.

Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.

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.

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 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 50 chocolate chip cookies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 20th. 92% of the chocolate chip cookies 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 50 chocolate chip cookies, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00227643, last edited 25 September 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.