Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Tesco Triple Belgian Chocolate Cookies ultra-processed?

4 Biscuits Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Tesco Triple Belgian Chocolate Cookies

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:

  • 46 ingredients
  • 6 additives

Less processed biscuits

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

Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin, Belgian White Chocolate Chunks 14%, Sugar, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate Chunks 10%, Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring, Butter, Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks 5%, Sugar, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring, Palm Oil, Cocoa Powder, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Potassium Carbonate), Rapeseed Oil, Humectant (Glycerol), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Wheat Fibre, Milk Sugar, Whey Powder, Invert Sugar, Salt, Flavouring

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E422 Glycerol , E450 Diphosphates , E450i Disodium diphosphate , E501 Potassium carbonates , E501i Potassium carbonate

As written on the pack

Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Belgian White Chocolate Chunks (14%) [Sugar, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring), Sugar, Brown Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate Chunks (10%) [Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring). Butter (Milk), Belgian Milk Chocolate Chunks (5%) [Sugar, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring). Palm Oil, Cocoa Powder, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Potassium Carbonate), Rapeseed Oil, Humectant (Glycerol), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Wheat Fibre, Milk Sugar, Whey Powder (Milk), Invert Sugar, Salt, 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.

  • 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.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • 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.
  • Humectant Humectants are substances which prevent foods from drying out by counteracting the effect of an atmosphere having a low degree of humidity, or promote the dissolution of a powder in an aqueous medium.

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.
  • 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.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
5 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.
  • 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 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 1453rd. 83% of the biscuits 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 1,514 biscuits, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0281729001800, last edited 1 January 2024), 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.