Essential Everyday
Open Food Facts brand roll-up for Essential Everyday, current as of September 2026. Screening averages and flag shares live in the short-answer band below. This hero only situates the catalog slice.
The short answer
Essential Everyday averages 90.7/100 across the 1,104 of 1,298 tracked products that carry an ingredient list, and 27.5% of those contain at least one separately flagged ingredient. The figure summarizes Open Food Facts labels cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI; it does not establish recall status, allergy suitability, or the composition of products outside this snapshot.
- 90.7/100
- average ingredient-screening score across 1,104 scored products
- 1,298
- tracked products in this brand roll-up
- 27.5%
- scored products with at least one flagged ingredient
- 66.2%
- of NOVA-classified products that are ultra-processed (Group 4)
Source snapshot current as of September 2026; open individual products before making a product-specific decision.
Portfolio reading
Use the distribution, then open the outliers
With 1,298 tracked products, the useful signal is the shape of the portfolio rather than one headline score. The current concern-sorted list begins Iced tea; Light Iced Tea, Lemon; Classic Trail Mix; 27.5% of records contain at least one flagged ingredient while the overall mean is 90.7/100. Open those outliers first, then compare neighboring formulations. The aggregate does not establish recall status, allergen suitability, or the composition of an item outside this snapshot.
| Signal | Essential Everyday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Avg safety score | 90.7/100 | Above-average |
| Products tracked | 1,298 | OpenFoodFacts US index |
| Flagged ingredients | 27.5% | FDA SAFFA + CSPI flag overlap |
What the Data Says About Essential Everyday
Essential Everyday: 1,298 products tracked, 1,104 with an ingredient list, avg safety score 90.7/100, 27.5% of those scored products has at least one flagged ingredient.
27.5% of the scored Essential Everyday products contain at least one separately flagged ingredient. That distribution is the primary finding; the average does not make those affected formulations "mostly safe." Scoring methodology + dye-pledge context →
Across the 894,137 products we index overall, the average safety score is 92.8/100, and Essential Everyday sits 2.1 points below that fleet-wide average. Among the 804 brands with 50+ products (the typical brand in that group flags 18% of its catalog), Essential Everyday's 27.5% flagged share is 9.5 points above that cohort median.
Processing mix (NOVA)
Essential Everyday processing intensity
Essential Everyday's NOVA-classified set is 1,087 products: 66.2% ultra-processed (Group 4, 720 items) with Group 4 (ultra-processed) largest at 720. That ultra-processed share sits 12.1 points below the 78.3% median for 1,323 brands with 50+ products. NOVA is processing intensity, not additive safety.
Shelf mix
Where Essential Everyday shows up in Open Food Facts
In Open Food Facts shelf labels, Essential Everyday concentrates in Plant-based foods and beverages (196, 48% of this top-five); Snacks (89); Dairies (50); Condiments (49); Beverages (23).
Average score by leading shelf label
| Shelf | Scored n | Avg | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant-based foods and beverages | 188 | 95.1/100 | 14.9% |
| Snacks | 88 | 83.8/100 | 33% |
| Dairies | 50 | 97.4/100 | 22% |
| Condiments | 42 | 96.7/100 | 26.2% |
| Beverages | 20 | 56.5/100 | 75% |
Cohort context
Flagged-ingredient share among large brands
Essential Everyday's 27.5% flagged share is measured across 1,104 scored products. The chart places that rate against the 50 brands with 50+ scored products in this snapshot, the same qualifying cohort used on the rankings page.
Essential Everyday flagged share vs large-brand cohort
27.5% of scored products carry at least one flagged ingredient
28% 0th percentile is at or above the flagged share of 0% of the 50 qualifying brands we track
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more qualifying brands. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Distribution as text
- 0%–10%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 10%–20%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 20%–30%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 30%–40%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 40%–50%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 50%–60%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 60%–70%
- 0 qualifying brands (0%)
- 70%–80%
- 3 qualifying brands (6%)
- 80%–90%
- 25 qualifying brands (50%)
- 90% and above
- 22 qualifying brands (44%)
Source Open Food Facts × FDA SAFFA × CSPI · September 2026
Portfolio shape
How scores cluster inside this brand
The brand average (90.7/100) summarizes 1,104 scored products. This distribution shows whether that mean sits on a tight cluster or a wide spread, a few low-scoring SKUs can matter even when the headline average looks strong.
Essential Everyday product score distribution
Brand average 90.7/100 across 1,104 scored products
91 24th percentile sits above 24% of the 1,104 scored products we track
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more scored products. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Distribution as text
- 0–10
- 24 scored products (2%)
- 10–20
- 8 scored products (1%)
- 20–30
- 20 scored products (2%)
- 30–40
- 8 scored products (1%)
- 40–50
- 17 scored products (2%)
- 50–60
- 22 scored products (2%)
- 60–70
- 12 scored products (1%)
- 70–80
- 41 scored products (4%)
- 80–90
- 65 scored products (6%)
- 90–100
- 87 scored products (8%)
- 100 and above
- 800 scored products (72%)
Source Open Food Facts product labels × FDA SAFFA × CSPI · September 2026
Essential Everyday relies most on Red 40, an industry staple
Across the 1,104 Essential Everyday products scored here, Red 40 appears in 81. It is used by 2,397 other brands in this database (6.8% of them), so its presence says more about the category than about this brand. A flag records that a named source raised a concern about an ingredient. It is not a finding that a product is unsafe to eat.
| Flagged ingredient | Essential Everyday products | Why it is flagged |
|---|---|---|
| Red 40 | 81 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Yellow 5 | 81 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Caramel Coloring | 80 | Restricted: California (Prop 65 warning for 4-MEI) |
| Blue 1 | 60 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Yellow 6 | 55 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Carrageenan | 44 | Concern recorded by a review body; no ban cited |
| Sodium Nitrite | 33 | Preservative with a recorded concern |
| Acesulfame Potassium | 29 | Concern recorded by a review body; no ban cited |
Counts are products in this database whose ingredient list names the flagged ingredient. Flags come from FDA enforcement actions, CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings and US state ingredient laws; see the methodology for how each source is applied.
Visible product sample
Label complexity does not determine the screening result
Each point is one of the 50 concern-sorted Essential Everyday records shown below. Horizontal position is the number of resolved ingredients on that product's stored label; vertical position is its source-derived screening score. The dashed medians (17 ingredients and 10/100) divide this displayed sample only. A longer label is not automatically worse: open a specific product to inspect its flagged rows and source coverage.
- Shown records
- 50
- Median label
- 17 ingredients
- Median score
- 10/100
The outlined point is Iced tea, the displayed record with the most flagged ingredients (9). Bubble size represents flagged ingredient count plus one, so zero-flagged products remain visible. The score is derived from FDA SAFFA and CSPI fields; this chart does not establish recall status, dietary suitability, or a health outcome.
Read the plotted values
- Iced tea: 17 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 9 flagged.
- Light Iced Tea, Lemon: 17 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 9 flagged.
- Classic Trail Mix: 35 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 9 flagged.
- Sugar free instant: 24 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 7 flagged.
- Pudding & pie filling: 24 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 7 flagged.
- Light With Caffeine Wild Strawberry Drink Mix, Wild Strawberry: 21 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 6 flagged.
- Instant vanilla: 21 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 6 flagged.
- Burnt Peanuts Candy, Burnt Peanuts: 18 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 6 flagged.
- Ranch Rice Crisps: 36 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Ranch tortilla chips, ranch: 35 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Apple Crunchies: 32 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Essential everyday, cheese party mix, snack mix: 69 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Spice Drops Candy: 10 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Spice Drops: 11 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Jelly Beans Candy: 14 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Pee Wee Jelly Bird Eggs Candy: 15 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Speckled Jelly Bird Eggs Candy: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Jelly Bird Eggs Candy: 14 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Low calorie gelatin dessert: 20 resolved ingredients, 5/100, 5 flagged.
- Essential everyday, peach iced tea drink mix, peach: 11 resolved ingredients, 15/100, 5 flagged.
- Iced Tea, Peach: 11 resolved ingredients, 15/100, 5 flagged.
- Gelatin dessert: 20 resolved ingredients, 15/100, 5 flagged.
- Corn & oat cereal: 28 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Frosted Fruit-O's Sweetened Multi-Grain Cereal With Natural Fruit Flavors: 33 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Butterscotch Discs Candy: 9 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Sour Gummi Bears Candy: 12 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Freezable fun pops: 13 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Instant Chocolate: 18 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- Waffles: 19 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- Peach Gummi Rings: 13 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- Peach Gummi Rings: 12 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- Smarties Candy, Smarties: 9 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- Light grape drink mix packets, light grape: 14 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Sugar free light fruit punch drink mix packets: 15 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Gelatin Dessert: 20 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Gelatin dessert: 16 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Gelatin dessert: 20 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips: 18 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Essential everyday, crunchy oat squares cereal, cinnamon: 24 resolved ingredients, 20/100, 4 flagged.
- Sugar free gelatin dessert: 19 resolved ingredients, 30/100, 4 flagged.
- Fruit Flavored Multi-Grain Sweetened Cereal: 24 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Essential everday, caffeine free drink mix, orange: 15 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Fruity Crispy Rice: 25 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Gummi Bears Candy: 12 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese: 33 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Salt Water Taffy: 17 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Gummi Worms Candy: 14 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Candy: 12 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Tootsie candy: 12 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Circus Peanuts: 9 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
Products by Essential Everyday
Showing 50 display-quality records, sorted by concern level (most flagged first); 1,248 tracked records with unusable upstream names remain in the aggregate but are not shown.
Nationwide brands with similar catalog profiles
Two PlainFoodSafe-derived peer sets for Essential Everyday: closest on tracked product count (1,298 here) and closest on average ingredient screening score (90.7/100 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood, not a largest-catalog strip.
Similar product count
Nearest other brands by Open Food Facts product count (floored at ≥50).
Similar average screening score
Nearest other brands by average ingredient screening score (floored at ≥50 scored products), distinct from the count row.
Counts and averages from Open Food Facts labels screened against FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine; neither axis is a health outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Essential Everyday food safe? ▼
Essential Everyday has an average safety score of 91/100 across the 1,104 of 1298 tracked products that carry an ingredient list. 27.5% of those contain flagged ingredients.
How many Essential Everyday products are tracked? ▼
Our database tracks 1,298 Essential Everyday products. 1,104 include an ingredient list and can be screened against FDA SAFFA and CSPI data; 194 cannot be scored from this snapshot.
How processed is the Essential Everyday catalog? ▼
Essential Everyday has 1,087 NOVA-classified products; 66.2% are ultra-processed (Group 4, 720 items) and Group 4 is the largest slice. NOVA describes processing intensity, not whether additives on a label are flagged.
Which shelves dominate the Essential Everyday catalog? ▼
In Open Food Facts shelf labels, Essential Everyday concentrates in Plant-based foods and beverages (196, 48% of this top-five); Snacks (89); Dairies (50); Condiments (49); Beverages (23).
Does Essential Everyday use artificial dyes? ▼
Open the individual product pages below to see which Essential Everyday items list a synthetic dye on their label. For whether the company has committed to removing dyes, the FDA and CSPI both publish corporate-commitment trackers; we no longer restate those commitments here.
What to do with this Essential Everyday profile
Use this roll-up as orientation, then verify the specific package you hold against its ingredient panel and the named official sources.
- Start with Iced tea, the displayed product with the most flagged ingredients (9) in this sample. Open the outlier product
- Red 40 appears in 81 scored Essential Everyday products, review why each source flags it before treating the brand average as uniform. Review flagged ingredient counts
- Compare Essential Everyday's 90.7/100 average and 27.5% flagged share against other brands before treating either figure as a recall or clearance signal. Brand safety rankings
- Cross-check any additive concern against FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine rather than relying on this derived index alone. Scoring methodology
A flagged ingredient records a source concern, not a recall, ban, or medical clearance. Always verify the current package label and consult official sources for product-specific decisions.
Citation & disclaimer notes
Brand scores aggregate ingredient-level FDA SAFFA + CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings across Open Food Facts product data. See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFoodSafe.Disclaimer: Informational purposes only; not professional advice. A flagged ingredient is not a recall or a ban. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Brand figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2026.
