Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Sainsbury's Scottish Shortbread Assortment (per Chocolate Chunk Shortbread) ultra-processed?

Shortbread Sold in the United Kingdom and Spain

Pack of Sainsbury's Scottish Shortbread Assortment (per Chocolate Chunk Shortbread)

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:

  • 52 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed shortbread

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

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Rounds (Fortified British Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour), Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin, Salted Butter 29% (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Dark Chocolate Chunks 19% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Flavouring), Sugar, Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate contains (Cocoa Solids 39%, Demerara Shortbread Rounds), Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Salted Butter 32% (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Demerara Sugar 4%, Sea Salt, Shortbread Fingers (Fortified British Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour), Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin, Salted Butter 33% (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Cornflour, Sea Salt, Raising Agent (Ammonium Bicarbonate)

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Rounds: Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Salted Butter (29%) (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Dark Chocolate Chunks (19%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Flavouring), Sugar, Sea Salt. Dark Chocolate contains: Cocoa Solids 39% minimum. Demerara Shortbread Rounds: Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Salted Butter (32%) (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Demerara Sugar (4%), Sea Salt. Shortbread Fingers: Fortified British Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Salted Butter (33%) (Butter (Cows' Milk), Salt), Sugar, Cornflour, Sea Salt, Raising Agent: Ammonium Bicarbonate.

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.
  • 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.
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 64 shortbread

From least to most processed, this one ranks 57th. 33% of the shortbread 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 64 shortbread, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 01741346, 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.