Is Tesco Milk Choco Pillows ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 36 ingredients
- 7 additives
- Nutri-Score D
Less processed extruded cereals
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
milk chocolate filling 35%, rice flour, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), oat flour, maize, sugar (processing marker), salt (processing marker), sunflower oil (processing marker), emulsifiers (ultra-processing marker) (sunflower lecithins (ultra-processing marker), mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (ultra-processing marker)), colour (ultra-processing marker) (mixed carotenes (ultra-processing marker)), maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), dextrose (ultra-processing marker), iron, vitamin e, antioxidants (ascorbyl palmitate, alpha-tocopherol), niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin b12, vitamins, vitamin d2, thiamin, folic acid, citric acid, riboflavin, vitamin b6, basil
Additives: E160a Carotene , E304 Fatty acid esters of ascorbic acid , E304i Ascorbyl palmitate , E307 Alpha-tocopherol , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
As written on the pack
milk chocolate filling (35%), rice flour, wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), oat flour, maize, sugar, salt, sunflower oil, emulsifiers (sunflower lecithins, mono - and di-glycerides of fatty acids), colour (mixed carotenes), maltodextrin, dextrose, iron, vitamin e, antioxidants (ascorbyl palmitate, alpha-tocopherol), niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin b12, vitamin d2, thiamin, folic acid, citric acid, riboflavin, vitamin b6. basil
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.
- E160a Carotene Carotenes are orange-yellow pigments, either synthesised or extracted from carrots, algae or palm oil.
- 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.
- E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
- 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.
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.
- Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
- Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
- Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
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.
Among 26 filled cereals
From least to most processed, this one ranks 20th. 100% of the filled cereals here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5057008079465, 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.
- 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.