Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Tesco Milky bar ultra-processed?

4 x 26g Cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Milky bar

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:

  • 32 ingredients
  • 7 additives

Less processed cakes

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

whole milk 34.8%, wheat flour, palm oil, skimmed milk powder, white chocolate 4.5% (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, whey powder (from milk), lactose (from milk), emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), fructose-glucose syrup, potato starch, sunflower oil, invert sugar, egg powder, dextrose, emulsifiers (e471, e322), raising agents (e450, e500, e503ii), concentrated carrot juice, natural flavourings, salt, lactose

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E450 Diphosphates , E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids , E500 Sodium carbonates , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

whole milk 34,8%, wheat flour, palm oil, skimmed milk powder, white chocolate 4,5% (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, whey powder (from milk ), lactose (from milk ), emulsifier ( soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), fructose-glucose syrup, potato starch, sunflower oil, invert sugar, egg powder, dextrose, emulsifiers (e471, e322 ( soya )), raising agents (e450, e500, e503ii), concentrated carrot juice, natural flavourings, salt, lactose ( milk ),

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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are made from fats and glycerol.
  • 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.

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.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
6 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.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • 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 377 cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 291st. 94% of the cakes 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 377 cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 3023290001349, 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.