Lifeway
Open Food Facts brand roll-up for Lifeway, 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
Lifeway averages 99.9/100 across the 88 of 148 tracked products that carry an ingredient list, and 1.1% 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.
- 99.9/100
- average ingredient-screening score across 88 scored products
- 148
- tracked products in this brand roll-up
- 1.1%
- scored products with at least one flagged ingredient
- 96.6%
- 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 148 tracked products, the useful signal is the shape of the portfolio rather than one headline score. The current concern-sorted list begins Lowfat Kefir; Organic Kefir cultured lowfat milk; Organic Probiotic Kefir Strawberry; 1.1% of records contain at least one flagged ingredient while the overall mean is 99.9/100. 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.
Catalog evidence
Ingredient-list coverage comes before the score
Only 88 of 148 tracked Lifeway records (59.5%) include an ingredient list. The remaining 60 cannot be screened, so the 99.9/100 mean describes the labelled subset rather than the whole brand.
Next check: use the product rows below to verify the labelled subset, then compare the current package for any unscored item.
What the Data Says About Lifeway
Lifeway: 148 products tracked, 88 with an ingredient list, avg safety score 99.9/100, 1.1% of those scored products has at least one flagged ingredient.
Because ingredient lists cover only 59.5% of tracked records, this average is a description of the labelled subset, not a brand-wide tier. The coverage gap is the dominant limitation. Scoring methodology + dye-pledge context →
Among the 804 brands with 50+ products (the typical brand in that group flags 18% of its catalog), Lifeway's 1.1% flagged share is 16.9 points below that cohort median.
Processing mix (NOVA)
Lifeway processing intensity
Lifeway's NOVA-classified set is 87 products: 96.6% ultra-processed (Group 4, 84 items) with Group 4 (ultra-processed) largest at 84. That ultra-processed share sits 18.3 points above the 78.3% median for 1,323 brands with 50+ products. NOVA is processing intensity, not additive safety.
Shelf mix
Where Lifeway shows up in Open Food Facts
In Open Food Facts shelf labels, Lifeway concentrates in Dairies (37, 55% of this top-five); Beverages (17); Beverages and beverages preparations (9); Desserts (2); Plant-based foods and beverages (2).
Average score by leading shelf label
| Shelf | Scored n | Avg | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dairies | 35 | 100/100 | 0% |
| Beverages | 16 | 100/100 | 0% |
| Beverages and beverages preparations | 9 | 100/100 | 0% |
| Desserts | 2 | 100/100 | 0% |
Cohort context
Flagged-ingredient share among large brands
Lifeway's 1.1% flagged share is measured across 88 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.
Lifeway flagged share vs large-brand cohort
1.1% of scored products carry at least one flagged ingredient
1% 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 (99.9/100) summarizes 88 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.
Lifeway product score distribution
Brand average 99.9/100 across 88 scored products
100 1st percentile sits above 1% of the 88 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
- 90–100
- 1 scored products (1%)
- 100 and above
- 87 scored products (99%)
Source Open Food Facts product labels × FDA SAFFA × CSPI · September 2026
Lifeway relies most on Caramel Coloring, an industry staple
Across the 88 Lifeway products scored here, Caramel Coloring appears in 1. It is used by 3,551 other brands in this database (10.1% 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 | Lifeway products | Why it is flagged |
|---|---|---|
| Caramel Coloring | 1 | Restricted: California (Prop 65 warning for 4-MEI) |
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 Lifeway 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 (10 ingredients and 100/100) 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
- 10 ingredients
- Median score
- 100/100
The outlined point is Lowfat Kefir, the displayed record with the most flagged ingredients (1). 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
- Lowfat Kefir: 8 resolved ingredients, 95/100, 1 flagged.
- Organic Kefir cultured lowfat milk: 5 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Probiotic Kefir Strawberry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Strawberry kefir cultured lowfat milk, strawberry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk STRAWBERRY: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Raspberry kefir cultured lowfat milk, raspberry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- PEACH KEFIR cultured lowfat milk: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Blueberry kefir cultured lowfat milk, blueberry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Lifeway, organic lowfat kefir cultured milk smoothie, pomegrante acai blueberry: 23 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir: 13 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Ryazhenka baked cultured whole milk: 4 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Cranberry creme brulee kefir cultured lowfat milk smoothie, cranberry creme brulee: 12 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic whole milk kefir: 5 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Probiotic Kefir Bites: 24 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir: 8 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Probugs creamy orange organic kefir cultured whole milk: 6 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic whole milk kefir cultured milk smoothie: 5 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Probugs goo berry pie kefir pouches: 5 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Probiotic snack: 6 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic whole milk kefir: 2 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir Cultured Whole Milk Mixed Berry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured whole milk: 4 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir cultured whole milk mixed berry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir: 6 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir Cultured whole milk lactose free peach: 13 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Organic Kefir Cultured Whole Milk Peach: 9 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Keifer cultured whole milk: 9 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Probiotic Smoothie: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Original unsweetened kefir cultured whole milk, original: 4 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Lifeway Kefir: 7 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir: 6 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk Strawberry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk Raspberry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Cultured Lowfat Milk Smoothie Kefir: 14 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir Raspberry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Cherry kefir cultured lowfat milk, cherry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir, Cultured Lowfat Milk Smoothie: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk: 12 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk PEACH: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk PEACH: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir Cultured Lowfat Milk Blueberry: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Lifeway, kefir, cultured lowfat milk smoothie, blueberry: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- KEFIR cultured lowfat milk: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir Cultured Lowfat Milk Smoothie: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Lifeway, kefir cultured lowfat milk smoothie, blueberry maple: 8 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Kefir: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Veggie Kefir, Tomato: 10 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Unsweetened Prostokvasha Cultured Lowfat Kefir: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
- Veggie Kefir, Cucumber: 11 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
Products by Lifeway
Showing 50 display-quality records, sorted by concern level (most flagged first); 98 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 Lifeway: closest on tracked product count (148 here) and closest on average ingredient screening score (99.9/100 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 Lifeway food safe? ▼
Lifeway has an average safety score of 100/100 across the 88 of 148 tracked products that carry an ingredient list. 1.1% of those contain flagged ingredients.
How many Lifeway products are tracked? ▼
Our database tracks 148 Lifeway products. 88 include an ingredient list and can be screened against FDA SAFFA and CSPI data; 60 cannot be scored from this snapshot.
How processed is the Lifeway catalog? ▼
Lifeway has 87 NOVA-classified products; 96.6% are ultra-processed (Group 4, 84 items) and Group 4 is the largest slice. NOVA describes processing intensity, not whether additives on a label are flagged.
Which shelves dominate the Lifeway catalog? ▼
In Open Food Facts shelf labels, Lifeway concentrates in Dairies (37, 55% of this top-five); Beverages (17); Beverages and beverages preparations (9); Desserts (2); Plant-based foods and beverages (2).
Does Lifeway use artificial dyes? ▼
Open the individual product pages below to see which Lifeway 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 Lifeway 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 Lowfat Kefir, the displayed product with the most flagged ingredients (1) in this sample. Open the outlier product
- Caramel Coloring appears in 1 scored Lifeway products, review why each source flags it before treating the brand average as uniform. Review flagged ingredient counts
- Compare Lifeway's 99.9/100 average and 1.1% 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.
