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Is Special K Milk Chocolate ultra-processed?

360 g Chocolate cereals Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Special K 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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 2 additives

Less processed chocolate cereals

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

Rice 40%, wholewheat 32%, milk chocolate 14% (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavouring), sugar, barley 4%, malted barley flour, salt, barley malt extract, niacin, iron, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

Rice (40%), wholewheat (32%), milk chocolate (14%) (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), sugar, barley (4%), malted barley flour, salt, barley malt extract, niacin, iron, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.

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.
  • 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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • 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.
  • 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 105 chocolate cereals

From least to most processed, this one ranks 38th. 90% of the chocolate cereals 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 105 chocolate cereals, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5053827142281, last edited 9 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.