Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Thorntons Continental ultra-processed?

264g Assorted chocolate candies Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Thorntons Continental

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:

  • 48 ingredients
  • 6 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed bonbons

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

ients Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Dried Whole Milk, Vegetable Fats (Palm Kernel, Palm, Shea), Hazelnuts, Skimmed Milk, Butter, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Glucose Syrup, Whole Milk, Double Cream, Dextrose, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, Sunflower Lecithin), Almonds, Anhydros Milk Fat, Invert Sugar Syrup, Lemon Juice (Maltodextrin, Concentrated Lemon Juice), Cocoa Nibs, Concentrated Orange Juice, Maize Starch, Instant Coffee, Salt, Flavourings, Stabiliser (Invertase), Sea Salt, Raising Agent (Ammonium Hydrogen Carbonate), Lactose, Acid (Citric Acid), Our Chocolate is made with 100% Cocoa Butter, Milk Chocolate contains (Cocoa Solids 30%), Milk 20%, Dark Chocolate contains (Cocoa Solids 48%), Gianduja Milk Chocolate contains (Cocoa Solids 29%), Milk Solids 15% minimum c Feedback

Additives: E1103 Invertase , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

ients Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Dried Whole Milk, Vegetable Fats (Palm Kernel, Palm, Shea), Hazelnuts, Dried Skimmed Milk, Butter (Milk), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Glucose Syrup, Whole Milk, Double Cream (Milk), Dextrose, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, Sunflower Lecithin), Almonds, Anhydros Milk Fat, Invert Sugar Syrup, Lemon Juice Powder (Maltodextrin, Concentrated Lemon Juice), Roasted Cocoa Nibs, Concentrated Orange Juice, Maize Starch, Dried Instant Coffee, Salt, Flavourings, Stabiliser (Invertase), Sea Salt, Raising Agent (Ammonium Hydrogen Carbonate), Lactose (Milk), Acid (Citric Acid), Our Chocolate is made with 100% Cocoa Butter, Milk Chocolate contains: Cocoa Solids 30% minimum, Milk Solids 20% minimum, Dark Chocolate contains: Cocoa Solids 48% minimum, Gianduja Milk Chocolate contains: Cocoa Solids 29% minimum, Milk Solids 15% minimum c Feedback

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Vegetable fat Vegetable fats are oils that are solid at room temperature, such as palm or coconut fat.
  • 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 19 assorted chocolate candies

From least to most processed, this one ranks 8th. 100% of the assorted chocolate candies 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 19 assorted chocolate candies, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5016346519439, last edited 28 July 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.