Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Waitrose Chocolate coated peanuts ultra-processed?

135 g Chocolate covered peanuts Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Chocolate coated peanuts

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:

  • 14 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed chocolate covered nuts

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 55% (Sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, emulsifler (soya lecithin), flavouring), peanuts 41%, icing sugar, rapeseed oil, gum arabic, shellac, tapioca starch

Additives: E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E414 Acacia gum , E904 Shellac

As written on the pack

Milk Chocolate (55%) (Sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, emulsifler (soya lecithin), flavouring), peanuts (41%), icing sugar, rapeseed oil, glazing agents (gum arabic, shellac), tapioca starch.

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.
  • E414 Acacia gum Gum arabic (acacia gum) is the hardened sap of acacia trees, used to stabilise flavour emulsions in soft drinks and to coat sweets.
  • E904 Shellac Shellac is a resin secreted by lac insects, used as a glazing agent on sweets, coated chocolates and fruit.
  • 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.

  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • 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 10 chocolate covered peanuts

From least to most processed, this one ranks 2nd. 90% of the chocolate covered peanuts 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 10 chocolate covered peanuts, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169294826, last edited 11 August 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.