Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Stockwell & Co Instant hot chocolate ultra-processed?

375g Instant chocolate powders Sold in the United Kingdom and France

Pack of Stockwell & Co Instant hot 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:

  • 11 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed instant chocolate powders

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

Maltodextrin, Whey Powder, Sugar, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder 9%, Skimmed Milk, Coconut Oil, Glucose Syrup, Guar gum, Salt, Flavouring, Dipotassium Phosphates

Additives: E340 Potassium phosphates , E340ii Dipotassium phosphate , E412 Guar gum

As written on the pack

Maltodextrin, Whey Powder (Milk), Sugar, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder 9%, Dried Skimmed Milk, Coconut Oil, Glucose Syrup, Thickener (Guar gum), Salt, Flavouring, Stabiliser (Dipotassium Phosphates).

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.

  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
  • 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.
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 51 instant chocolate powders

From least to most processed, this one ranks 33rd. 88% of the instant chocolate powders 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 51 instant chocolate powders, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057753083946, last edited 28 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.