Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Dipped French Butter Cookies ultra-processed?

Biscuits Sold in the United States

Pack of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Dipped French Butter 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:

  • 16 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

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

dark chocolate (chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin (emulsifier), natural vanilla flavor), wheat flour, sugar, butter (cream, lactic acid starter culture), egg yolks, ammonium bicarbonate, whole milk powder, salt

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E503 Ammonium carbonates , E503ii Ammonium hydrogen carbonate

As written on the pack

DARK CHOCOLATE (UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN [EMULSIFIER], NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR), WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, CULTURED BUTTER (PASTEURIZED CREAM, LACTIC ACID STARTER CULTURE), DRIED EGG YOLKS, AMMONIUM BICARBONATE, WHOLE MILK POWDER, SALT

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.
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.
  • 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.
  • Microbial culture Microbial cultures ferment foods such as yoghurt, cheese and sourdough.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 1,514 biscuits

From least to most processed, this one ranks 690th. 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 00765718, last edited 5 July 2025), 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.