Sweethearts
Open Food Facts brand roll-up for Sweethearts, 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
Sweethearts averages 25.6/100 across the 17 of 17 tracked products that carry an ingredient list, and 94.1% 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.
- 25.6/100
- average ingredient-screening score across 17 scored products
- 17
- tracked products in this brand roll-up
- 94.1%
- scored products with at least one flagged ingredient
- 100%
- 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
Look for consistency across the range
The catalog shows a small but varied range led by Dream Big Candies; Candies tiny hearts; Candies. Across 17 tracked products, the mean is 25.6/100 and 94.1% carry a separately flagged ingredient. That is enough to compare formulations inside this captured range, but not enough to assume every current package matches. Start with the lowest-scoring product rows and confirm the ingredient panel when a specific additive matters.
| Signal | Sweethearts | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Avg safety score | 25.6/100 | Below-average |
| Products tracked | 17 | OpenFoodFacts US index |
| Flagged ingredients | 94.1% | FDA SAFFA + CSPI flag overlap |
What the Data Says About Sweethearts
Sweethearts: 17 products tracked, 17 with an ingredient list, avg safety score 25.6/100, 94.1% of those scored products has at least one flagged ingredient.
94.1% of the scored Sweethearts 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 Sweethearts sits 67.2 points below that fleet-wide average.
Processing mix (NOVA)
Sweethearts processing intensity
Sweethearts's NOVA-classified set is 17 products: 100% ultra-processed (Group 4, 17 items) with Group 4 (ultra-processed) largest at 17. That ultra-processed share sits 21.7 points above the 78.3% median for 1,323 brands with 50+ products. NOVA is processing intensity, not additive safety.
- G1
- 0
- G2
- 0
- G3
- 0
- G4 ultra
- 17 (100%)
Portfolio shape
How scores cluster inside this brand
The brand average (25.6/100) summarizes 17 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.
Sweethearts product score distribution
Brand average 25.6/100 across 17 scored products
26 65th percentile sits above 65% of the 17 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
- 9 scored products (53%)
- 10–20
- 1 scored products (6%)
- 20–30
- 2 scored products (12%)
- 50–60
- 1 scored products (6%)
- 70–80
- 3 scored products (18%)
- 100 and above
- 1 scored products (6%)
Source Open Food Facts product labels × FDA SAFFA × CSPI · September 2026
Sweethearts relies most on Red 40, an industry staple
Across the 17 Sweethearts products scored here, Red 40 appears in 13. 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 | Sweethearts products | Why it is flagged |
|---|---|---|
| Red 40 | 13 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Yellow 5 | 12 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Blue 1 | 11 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Red 3 | 11 | FDA ban effective 2027-01-15 · Restricted: California (AB 418; effective 2027-01-01); Federal (FDA; effective 2027-01-15) |
| Yellow 6 | 11 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
| Blue 2 | 1 | FDA voluntary phase-out target 2027-12-31 (a request, not a ban) · Restricted: California (schools) |
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 17 concern-sorted Sweethearts 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 (16 ingredients and 0/100) 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
- 17
- Median label
- 16 ingredients
- Median score
- 0/100
The outlined point is Dream Big Candies, the displayed record with the most flagged ingredients (5). 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
- Dream Big Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Candies tiny hearts: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Contest Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- Sweatbearts: 17 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 5 flagged.
- True love sour tiny hearts candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 0/100, 4 flagged.
- Sweethearts Candies: 16 resolved ingredients, 10/100, 4 flagged.
- True Love Candies: 13 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Egg Shaped Candies In Soda Pop Flavors: 15 resolved ingredients, 25/100, 3 flagged.
- Cool Hearts Candies: 12 resolved ingredients, 50/100, 2 flagged.
- Candy Gummies: 8 resolved ingredients, 75/100, 1 flagged.
- Hot Hearts Candy: 11 resolved ingredients, 75/100, 1 flagged.
- Soda Pop Eggs: 14 resolved ingredients, 75/100, 1 flagged.
- Peppermint mints: 6 resolved ingredients, 100/100, 0 flagged.
Products by Sweethearts
Showing 17 display-quality records, sorted by concern level (most flagged first).
Nationwide brands with similar catalog profiles
Two PlainFoodSafe-derived peer sets for Sweethearts: closest on tracked product count (17 here) and closest on average ingredient screening score (25.6/100 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood, not a largest-catalog strip.
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 Sweethearts food safe? ▼
Sweethearts has an average safety score of 26/100 across the 17 of 17 tracked products that carry an ingredient list. 94.1% of those contain flagged ingredients.
How many Sweethearts products are tracked? ▼
Our database tracks 17 Sweethearts products. 17 include an ingredient list and can be screened against FDA SAFFA and CSPI data; 0 cannot be scored from this snapshot.
How processed is the Sweethearts catalog? ▼
Sweethearts has 17 NOVA-classified products; 100% are ultra-processed (Group 4, 17 items) and Group 4 is the largest slice. NOVA describes processing intensity, not whether additives on a label are flagged.
Does Sweethearts use artificial dyes? ▼
Open the individual product pages below to see which Sweethearts 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 Sweethearts 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 Dream Big Candies, the displayed product with the most flagged ingredients (5) in this sample. Open the outlier product
- Red 40 appears in 13 scored Sweethearts products, review why each source flags it before treating the brand average as uniform. Review flagged ingredient counts
- Compare Sweethearts's 25.6/100 average and 94.1% 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.
