Concern

Lucky Charms

by General Mills

Open Food Facts label for barcode 00168948 · 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 00168948 · Serving size 36 g

The verdict

Lucky Charms by General Mills scores 50/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 32 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 32-component record, beginning with Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Corm Starch. That density can include amounts and label fragments, so verify the physical label before relying on ingredient order or completeness. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.

50/100
Concern safety score
2
Few flagged · of 32 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

38/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

50/100

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.

00168948 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Lucky Charms label screening desk

SCORE-CONC 50/100 FLAG-FEW 2 flagged LEN-DENSE 32 ing. REG-PART 44% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-D Nutri-D RANK-SHORT Len top 8% LEAD-FLAG Blue 1 PHOTO-FINISH Nacho cheese sauce · ±0 BOOK-OFF …168948 · July 2026

14 of 32 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Blue 1). Source sheet 00168948 · 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: Nacho cheese sauce · Nearest score peer is Nacho cheese sauce at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

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

This label lands in the third of four positions on the published scale. What separates that position from its neighbours is arithmetic rather than judgement: identical inputs run through the documented weighting always arrive at the same place. Anyone who works the calculation through by hand, using the methodology write-up together with the itemised ratings further down, will reproduce this number exactly — which is the reason for publishing a computed figure instead of an opinion.

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.

This label parsed into a long component list. Where many entries are screened at once, the composite tends to reflect the overall mix of registry ratings returned rather than the rating of any one entry. Longer declarations also carry more sub-listed and compound entries, where a parenthetical group is resolved into its parts, so the parsed count can exceed what a reader counts on the packaging.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Lucky Charms: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Lucky Charms50/1002. Nacho cheese sauce: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Nacho cheese sauce50/1003. Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze50/1004. Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze50/1005. Fruit Chews Candy: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Fruit Chews Candy50/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Lucky Charms (50/100 on 32 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

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

Lucky Charms
50/100
Nacho cheese sauce
50/100
Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze
50/100
Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze
50/100
Fruit Chews Candy
50/100

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 47.7 points below that category average (50/100 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 32 ingredients on its label

32 92nd percentile a longer ingredient list than 92% 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%). Below this entry. 18–20: 2,053 products (3%). Below this entry. 20–22: 1,808 products (3%). Below this entry. 22–24: 1,758 products (3%). Below this entry. 24–26: 1,623 products (3%). Below this entry. 26–28: 1,606 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 1,360 products (2%). Below this entry. 30–32: 1,198 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 1,081 products (2%). This entry sits in this band. 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: 32 (92nd 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.

Ingredient Safety Analysis

How the 50/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (2 flagged of 32 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Whole Grain Oats
2
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
3
Corm Starch
4
Corn Starch
5
Corn Syrup
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, TEXTURIZER
Cut Back GRAS
6
Dextrose
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Cut Back GRAS
7
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
8
Gelatin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
9
Trisodium Phosphate
10
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)
11
And Yellow 5 & 6
12
Blue 1
Caution Approved (certified color)
13
Natural And Artificial Flavor. Vitamin E
14
Mixed Tocopherols
15
Calcium Carbonate
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, LEAVENING AGENT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, MASTICATORY SUBSTANCE, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
16
Vitamin C
17
Sodium Ascorbate
ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT
GRAS
18
Iron And Zinc
19
Mineral Nutrients
20
B Vitamin
21
Niacinamide
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
22
Vitamin B6
23
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
24
Vitamin B1
25
Thiamin Mononitrate
26
Vitamin A
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
27
Palmitate
28
Vitamin B2
29
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
30
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
31
Vitamin B12
32
Vitamin D3

Full Ingredient List

Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Corm Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Dextrose. Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Gelatin, Trisodium Phosphate, Red 40, Yellow 5 & 6, Blue 1, Natural and Artificial Flavor. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols). Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

Other products containing Corm Starch

Corm Starch is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 6 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

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

Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Lucky Charms

Neighbours outside General Mills near Lucky Charms's mid-band score (50/100). 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 32-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Blue 1. Open Blue 1
  • Compare Lucky Charms's 2 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 00168948: 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.