Low Calorie Instant Hot Chocolate
Processing
4
Ultra-processed
Group 4 of 4 on the NOVA scale
Additives listed
6
0 we grade moderate or higher
4 of them not yet assessed here
Nutrients
–
Nothing above the low band
Or no figures recorded at all
Three separate readings, kept apart on purpose. This is not a score, and none of it says this product is harmful.
Additives (6)
This label lists 2 thickeners and gelling agents, 1 acidity regulator, 1 anticaking agent, 1 additive and 1 sweetener.
E407
Carrageenan
Thickener and stabiliser
What it is. A gel forming fibre extracted from red seaweed.
Why it is used. Thickens dairy, plant milks, desserts and some processed meats.
What the evidence says. Food grade carrageenan is permitted. A degraded form called poligeenan is harmful, but that is not what goes into food. Some lab and animal work links carrageenan to gut inflammation, which keeps it under review, but human evidence is limited and mixed.
Permitted, including in organic food in many places, though a few specialist products avoid it as a precaution.
Assessed against EFSA, JECFA. Full entry for E407
E955
Sucralose
Artificial sweetener
What it is. An intense sweetener made from sugar, around 600 times sweeter, so it is used in very small amounts.
Why it is used. Sweetens diet drinks, tabletop sweeteners, dairy and baked goods.
What the evidence says. Regulators have treated it as safe for decades and the acceptable daily intake has not changed. Newer laboratory work on a breakdown product, and the general question of sweeteners and the gut microbiome, keep it under discussion, but that work is early and has not moved any official position.
Permitted with an acceptable daily intake in all three regions.
Assessed against EFSA, JECFA. Full entry for E955
Also on the label, not assessed here yet
- E1200 Polydextrose other
- E340 Potassium phosphates acidity regulator
- E412 Guar gum thickener
- E551 Silicon dioxide anticaking agent
Names and jobs come from the register of additives permitted in Great Britain, which we have not finished transcribing: a code shown without a name is a gap in our coverage, not a finding that it is unapproved. Naming one is not grading it either. Full detail appears only where we have an assessment against a named authority, so all of this describes our coverage rather than these additives. Most are common and low concern.
Ingredients
Whey powder (cows' _milk_), Fat reduced cocoa powder 25%, skimmed cow' _milk_ powder 12%, sugar 10%, glucose syrup, coconut oil, polydextrose, thickener (guar gum, carrageenan), salt, maltodextrin, milk protein concentrate (cows' _milk_), flavouring, sweetener (sucralose), anti-caking agent (silicon dioxide), stabiliser (potassium phosphate).
As printed on the pack, in the producer's own order: ingredients are listed by weight, so what comes first is most of what is in it. E numbers link to their assessment where we have one.