Is Trader Joe's milk chocolate covered mini pretzels ultra-processed?

40.0g Pretzel Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E322 Lecithins

18 ingredients
2 additives
Nutri-Score E

Less processed pretzel

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

milk chocolate (sugar (processing marker), whole milk powder (processing marker), cocoa butter, cocoa mass, soy lecithin (ultra-processing marker), natural vanilla flavor (ultra-processing marker)), mini pretzels (flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), malted barley flour, salt (processing marker), soybean oil (processing marker))

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, WHOLE MILK POWDER, COCOA BUTTER, COCOA MASS, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR), MINI PRETZELS (UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT, SOYBEAN OIL)

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.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

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.

Salty snacks Products in the category "Salty snacks" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
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 64 pretzel

From least to most processed, this one ranks 45th. 63% of the pretzel 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 64 pretzel, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00359825, last edited 10 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.