Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Sanitarium Chocolate Oat ultra-processed?

1 l Cocoa oat-based drinks Sold in the United States and New Zealand

Pack of Sanitarium Chocolate Oat

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:

  • 23 ingredients
  • 5 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed oat-based drinks

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

Filtered water, oats 9%, cane sugar, vegetable oils (canola, sunflower), cocoa powder 1%, minerals (calcium, phosphorus), natural flavours, sunflower lecithin, salt, vegetable gum (gellan), ascorbic acid, steviol glycosides, vitamins, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin D2, vitamin B1

Additives: E300 Ascorbic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E418 Gellan gum , E960 Steviol glycosides

As written on the pack

Filtered water, oats (9%), cane sugar, vegetable oils (canola, sunflower), cocoa powder (1%), minerals (calcium, phosphorus), natural flavours, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), salt, vegetable gum (gellan), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), sweetener (steviol glycosides), vitamins (B12, A, B2, D2, B1).

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.
  • E418 Gellan gum Stabilisers are substances which make it possible to maintain the physico-chemical state of a foodstuff; stabilisers include substances which enable the maintenance of a homogenous dispersion of two or more immiscible substances in a foodstuff, substances which stabilise, retain or intensify an existing colour of a foodstuff and substances which increase the binding capacity of the food, including the formation of cross-links between proteins enabling the binding of food pieces into re-constituted food.
  • E960 Steviol glycosides Steviol glycosides are sweet compounds extracted and purified from the leaves of the stevia plant.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
3 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 8 cocoa oat-based drinks

From least to most processed, this one ranks 8th. 100% of the cocoa oat-based drinks 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 8 cocoa oat-based drinks, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 9300652812572, last edited 11 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.