Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Smarties Easter Egg ultra-processed?

Confectioneries Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Smarties Easter Egg

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:

  • 28 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed confectioneries

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

sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, whey product, butterfat, vegetable fats (palm, shea), emulsifier (lecithins), glucose syrup, wheat flour, starch, colours (beetroot red, carotenes, curcumin), flavourings, spirulina concentrate, glazing agents (carnauba wax, beeswax), plant, vegetable concentrates (safflower, radish), barley malt extract

Additives: E100 Curcumin , E160a Carotene , E162 Beetroot red , E322 Lecithins , E901 White and yellow beeswax , E903 Carnauba wax

As written on the pack

sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, whey powder product (milk), butterfat (milk), vegetable fats (palm, shea), emulsifier (lecithins), glucose syrup, wheat flour, starch, colours (beetroot red, carotenes, curcumin), flavourings, spirulina concentrate, glazing agents (carnauba wax, beeswax), plant and vegetable concentrates (safflower, radish), barley malt extract,

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.

  • E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
  • E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
  • E162 Beetroot red Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of 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.
  • E901 White and yellow beeswax A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • E903 Carnauba wax Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of a Brazilian palm and gives sweets and coated chocolates their shine.
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  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • 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.
  • Glazing agent Glazing agents, waxes and shellac for example, coat a surface to make it shiny or stop pieces sticking together.

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.
  • 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.
  • Whey product An ingredient mostly produced industrially and rarely used in home kitchens.
5 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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • 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 1,731 confectioneries

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1649th. 90% of the confectioneries 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 1,731 confectioneries, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8445290934642, last edited 3 April 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.