Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsburys fridge raiders ultra-processed?

150 g Chocolate chip cookies Sold in the United Kingdom

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:

  • 41 ingredients
  • 7 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

Belgian Milk Chocolate 28% (Sugar, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavouring), Oat Flour, Salted Butter (Cows' Milk, Salt), Sugar, Belgian White Chocolate Pieces 8% (Sugar, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavouring), Belgian Dark Chocolate 8%, Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavou, Oats, Tapioca Flour, Golden Syrup, Cocoa Powder, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate), Ammonium Carbonate, Flavouring, Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E415 Xanthan gum , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503i Ammonium carbonate

As written on the pack

Belgian Milk Chocolate (28%) (Sugar, Cows' Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Gluten Free Oat Flour, Salted Butter (Cows' Milk, Salt), Sugar, Belgian White Chocolate Pieces (8%) (Sugar, Cows' Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Skimmed Cows' Milk Powder, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Belgian Dark Chocolate Pieces (8%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavou, Gluten Free Oats, Tapioca Flour, Golden Syrup, Cocoa Powder, Raising Agents: Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Carbonate; Flavouring, Stabiliser: Xanthan Gum; Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder.

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.
  • 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.

  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • 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.
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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • 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 50 chocolate chip cookies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 27th. 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 00227582, 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.
  • 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.