Is Schär Rich Tea Biscuits ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 17 ingredients
- 6 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed biscuits
-
Whole wheat cereal with added vitamins and iron. 12 Biscuits
Weetabix
10 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Fruit & Seed Oatcakes
Nairn's
9 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
-
Shortbread Fingers
Walker’s
9 ingredients · no additives
NOVA group
3
-
Cheese Oatcakes
Nairn's
5 ingredients · 2 additives
NOVA group
3
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
Maize starch (processing marker), maize flour, sugar (processing marker), palm oil, tapioca starch (processing marker), eggs, butter (processing marker), whole milk powder (processing marker), glucose syrup (ultra-processing marker), sugar syrup, modified maize starch (ultra-processing marker), mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of edible fatty acids, ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, salt (processing marker), natural flavouring (ultra-processing marker), citric acid
Additives: E330 Citric acid , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate , E570 Fatty acids
As written on the pack
Maize starch, maize flour, sugar, palm oil, tapioca starch, eggs, butter (milk), whole milk powder, glucose syrup, sugar syrup, modified maize starch, emulsifier: mono - and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono - and diglycerides of edible fatty acids; raising agents: ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate; salt, natural flavouring, acid: citric acid.
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.
- Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
- Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
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.
- Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
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.
Among 1,514 biscuits
From least to most processed, this one ranks 884th. 83% of the biscuits here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8008698010402, last edited 16 August 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.