Avoid

Lucky Charms

by General Mills

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0016000121836 · General Mills · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0016000121836 · Serving size 1 taza (36 g)

The verdict

Lucky Charms by General Mills scores 25/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 17 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 3 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 17-component label is layered, beginning with Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Oat Flour. Start with any flagged rows, then check the nutrition grade and serving size instead of treating one roll-up score as the whole decision. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.

25/100
Avoid safety score
3
Few flagged · of 17 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
D
Nutri-Score nutrition grade

Computed directly from OpenFoodFacts ingredient data cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. See our methodology for the scoring formula.

Composite profile score

One verdict from three independent sources

25/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

25/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

D

Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition grade

Weighted 50% ingredient safety / 25% processing level / 25% nutrition grade. A dimension with no data for this product (common: source coverage is partial) is dropped and its weight redistributes across the remaining dimensions, so missing data never silently lowers the score. See the full benchmark table.

00121836 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Lucky Charms label screening desk

SCORE-AVOID 25/100 FLAG-FEW 3 flagged LEN-LAYERED 17 ing. REG-PART 47% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-D Nutri-D RANK-MID Len top 27% LEAD-FLAG Blue 1 PHOTO-FINISH Lucky Charms · ±0 BOOK-OFF …121836 · July 2026

8 of 17 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Blue 1). Source sheet 00121836 · Open Food Facts · July 2026. The screening score and flag counts are in the verdict band above. This desk is the provenance stamp, not a second scorecard. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: Lucky Charms · Nearest score peer is Lucky Charms at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record

The composite for this product falls in the lowest of the four bands. That is where labels land when registry-rated components drive the greater part of the deduction from the index. The band name is drawn from the framework's own scale and is distinct from the ratings the registries themselves assign to individual substances, which are shown per component below. A single heavily rated component and several lightly rated ones can produce the same band, so the component table is the more precise reading of the two.

This label falls in the fourth Nutri-Score band. The model arrives there when its penalty terms — energy density, sugars, saturated fat, sodium — carry more weight in the calculation than the fibre, protein and produce content it credits. The band covers a wide span of the points scale, so position within it is not visible from the letter alone. The grade reflects the declared nutrition panel and is unrelated to the additive ratings listed below, which come from different bodies applying different criteria.

A mid-length component list was parsed from this label. There are enough separate entries for the screen to match several independently, while each matched entry still carries visible weight in the resulting index. Lists of this size are the most common shape in the catalogue, which makes the composite here easier to place against comparable products than at either extreme.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Lucky Charms: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Lucky Charms25/1002. Lucky Charms: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Lucky Charms25/1003. Spicy Jalapeño Cheddar Flavored Taco Shells: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Spicy Jalapeño Cheddar Fl…25/1004. Protein Bars Strawberries & Cream: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Protein Bars Strawberries…25/1005. Protein Bars Vanilla Strawberry & Cream: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Protein Bars Vanilla Stra…25/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Lucky Charms (25/100 on 17 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

Unit: PlainFoodSafe screening score out of 100. Data current as of July 2026.

Lucky Charms
25/100
Lucky Charms
25/100
Spicy Jalapeño Cheddar Flavored Taco Shells
25/100
Protein Bars Strawberries & Cream
25/100
Protein Bars Vanilla Strawberry & Cream
25/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 78,450 products we've scored in the Plant-based foods and beverages category, the average safety score is 97.7/100. Lucky Charms scores 72.7 points below that category average (25/100 vs. 97.7/100), so it is a comparatively weaker pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Plant-based foods and beverages products

Lucky Charms lists 17 ingredients on its label

17 73rd percentile a longer ingredient list than 73% of the 63,434 products we track

0–2: 3,907 products (6%). Below this entry. 2–4: 7,921 products (12%). Below this entry. 4–6: 8,845 products (14%). Below this entry. 6–8: 7,032 products (11%). Below this entry. 8–10: 6,320 products (10%). Below this entry. 10–12: 4,190 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 3,449 products (5%). Below this entry. 14–16: 3,051 products (5%). Below this entry. 16–18: 2,493 products (4%). This entry sits in this band. 18–20: 2,053 products (3%). Above this entry. 20–22: 1,808 products (3%). Above this entry. 22–24: 1,758 products (3%). Above this entry. 24–26: 1,623 products (3%). Above this entry. 26–28: 1,606 products (3%). Above this entry. 28–30: 1,360 products (2%). Above this entry. 30–32: 1,198 products (2%). Above this entry. 32–34: 1,081 products (2%). Above this entry. 34–36: 901 products (1%). Above this entry. 36–38: 649 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 534 products (1%). Above this entry. 40–42: 1,655 products (3%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Plant-based foods and beverages product, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more 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

63,434 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 17 (73rd percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
3,907 products (6%)
2–4
7,921 products (12%)
4–6
8,845 products (14%)
6–8
7,032 products (11%)
8–10
6,320 products (10%)
10–12
4,190 products (7%)
12–14
3,449 products (5%)
14–16
3,051 products (5%)
16–18
2,493 products (4%)
18–20
2,053 products (3%)
20–22
1,808 products (3%)
22–24
1,758 products (3%)
24–26
1,623 products (3%)
26–28
1,606 products (3%)
28–30
1,360 products (2%)
30–32
1,198 products (2%)
32–34
1,081 products (2%)
34–36
901 products (1%)
36–38
649 products (1%)
38–40
534 products (1%)
40 and above
1,655 products (3%)

Source Open Food Facts, product label ingredient lists · July 2026

Ingredient-list length is a descriptive property of the label, not a safety rating. A longer list is not automatically worse and a shorter one is not automatically better; the count is shown so the label can be placed against a comparable population. The comparison here runs against the 63,434 Plant-based foods and beverages products we publish with a parsed label, not against the whole catalogue, because list length varies far more between categories than within one.

Full Ingredient List

whole grain oats, sugar, oat flour, corn syrup, modified corn starch, corn starch, dextrose, salt, gelatin, trisodium phosphate, yellow 5 , 6, red 40, blue 1, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin e (mixed tocopherols) added to preserve freshness,

Categories

Plant-based foods and beverages Plant-based foods Breakfasts Cereals and potatoes Cereals and their products Breakfast cereals Extruded cereals

Lower-score cross-brand comparables for Lucky Charms

Neighbours outside General Mills in the same lower screening band as Lucky Charms (25/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within General Mills; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Blue 1 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Lucky Charms's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 17-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Blue 1. Open Blue 1
  • Compare Lucky Charms's 3 flagged ingredients with a product from the same score neighbourhood. Compare labels
  • Check how caution flags contribute to the derived screening score before drawing a dietary conclusion. Read the method

This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.

Barcode 0016000121836: product data from Open Food Facts (July 2026). Screening from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine where attached. Figures are computed from those sources, not editor-typed. Methodology. Reference only, not dietary or medical advice.