Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Salted Caramel Munch Bars ultra-processed?

32g Chocolate cereal bars Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Salted Caramel Munch Bars

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:

  • 44 ingredients
  • 3 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed cereal bars

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

Glucose Syrup, Oat Flakes 21%, Milk Chocolate 17% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithins, Lecithins), Vanilla Extract), Wheat Flakes 13% (Wheat, Salt, Barley Malt Extract), Crispy Cereals (Rice Flour, Sugar, Wheat, Dextrose, Wheat Gluten, Rice Starch, Salt), Caramel 3.5% (Sugar, Butter, Palm Fat, Dried Whole Milk, Skimmed Milk, Salt, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins)), Palm Oil, Stabiliser (Sorbitols), Salt, Caramel (Glucose Syrup, Water, Sugar), Flavouring, Emulsifier (Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), rch Allergy Information

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E420 Sorbitol , E473 Sucrose esters of fatty acids

As written on the pack

Glucose Syrup, Oat Flakes (21%), Milk Chocolate (17%) [Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithins, Lecithins), Vanilla Extract], Wheat Flakes (13%) [Wheat, Salt, Barley Malt Extract], Crispy Cereals [Rice Flour, Sugar, Malted Wheat, Dextrose, Wheat Gluten, Rice Starch, Salt], Salted Caramel Pieces (3.5%) [Sugar, Butter (Milk), Palm Fat, Dried Whole Milk, Dried Skimmed Milk, Salt, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins)], Palm Oil, Stabiliser (Sorbitols), Salt, Caramel [Glucose Syrup, Water, Sugar], Flavouring, Emulsifier (Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids). rch Allergy Information May contain peanuts and nuts.

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.
  • E420 Sorbitol Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and to keep products moist.
  • E473 Sucrose esters of fatty acids Emulsifiers are substances which make it possible to form or maintain a homogenous mixture of two or more immiscible phases such as oil and water in a foodstuff.
  • 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.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • 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.
  • 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 61 chocolate cereal bars

From least to most processed, this one ranks 46th. 100% of the chocolate cereal bars 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 61 chocolate cereal bars, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5059697707698, last edited 7 June 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.