Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Trader Joe's Rosemary ultra-processed?

22g Peanut butter cups Sold in the United States

Pack of Trader Joe's Rosemary

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:

  • 15 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed peanut butter cups

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, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, emulsifier), natural flavor, peanut butter, sugar, palm kernel oil, lactose, salt, soy lecithin (emulsifier)

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin

As written on the pack

MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, WHOLE MILK POWDER, SOY LECITHIN [EMULSIFIER), NATURAL FLAVOR), PEANUT BUTTER (PEANUTS), SUGAR, PALM KERNEL OIL, LACTOSE, SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER)

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.

  • Lactose Lactose is milk sugar, crystallised industrially from whey, a by-product of cheese making.
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.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • 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 13 peanut butter cups

From least to most processed, this one ranks 11th. 62% of the peanut butter cups 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 13 peanut butter cups, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 00221290, last edited 2 October 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 D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.