Is Starbucks Oat based vanilla macchiato ultra-processed?

Coffee drinks Sold in the United Kingdom

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E410 Locust bean gum
E418 Gellan gum

17 ingredients
5 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed coffee drinks

Decaff Gold Roast Coffee Alcafe 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Jimmy’s Iced Coffee High Protein Jimmy's 7 ingredients · 2 additives NOVA group 1
Instant coffee Espresso Gold Blend Nescafé 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1
Colombian freeze dried instant coffee Deluxe 1 ingredient · no additives NOVA group 1

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

oat base (water, oat 14%, sunflower oil (processing marker)), starbucks® arabica coffee (water, coffee), chicory inulin, sugar (processing marker) 1.4%, acidity regulators (tricalcium phosphate, sodium hydroxide), stabilisers (gellan gum (ultra-processing marker), locust bean gum (ultra-processing marker)), salt (processing marker), natural flavouring (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E341 Calcium phosphates , E341iii Tricalcium phosphate , E410 Locust bean gum , E418 Gellan gum , E524 Sodium hydroxide

As written on the pack

oat base (water, oat (14%), sunflower oil) (75%), starbucks® arabica coffee (water, coffee extract) (20%), chicory inulin, sugar (1,4%), acidity regulators (tricalcium phosphate, sodium hydroxide), stabilisers (gellan gum, locust bean gum), salt, natural flavouring

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.

E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
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.
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 97 coffee drinks

From least to most processed, this one ranks 66th. 72% of the coffee 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 97 coffee drinks, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5711953118463, last edited 27 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 D (from A, best, to E).
General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.