Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sainsbury's Smooth milk chocolate ultra-processed?

100 g Milk chocolates Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Sainsbury's Smooth milk chocolate

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:

  • 18 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed milk chocolates

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

Sweeteners (Maltitol), Lactitol (Cows' Milk), Cocoa Butter, Cows' Milk, Cocoa Mass, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Butterfat (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin), Flavouring, Find out more at ra.org, Milk Chocolate contains (Cocoa Solids 34%), Milk 15%

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E965 Maltitol , E966 Lactitol

As written on the pack

Sweeteners: Maltitol, Lactitol (Cows' Milk); Cocoa Butter*, Dried Cows' Milk, Cocoa Mass*, Whey Powder (Cows' Milk), Butterfat (Cows' Milk), Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin; Flavouring. *Rainforest Alliance Certified. Find out more at ra.org. Milk Chocolate contains: Cocoa Solids 34% minimum, Milk Solids 15% 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.
  • E965 Maltitol Maltitol is a sugar alcohol made from starch, used as a sweetener in "no added sugar" sweets and chocolate.
  • E966 Lactitol A food additive authorised for industrial food production.
  • 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.
  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

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.

  • 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.
2 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.

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

How the NOVA groups work

Among 279 milk chocolates

From least to most processed, this one ranks 256th. 93% of the milk chocolates 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 279 milk chocolates, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 06118139, last edited 5 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.