Hills bros
by Hills Bros
Scores 70/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 2 flagged ingredients identified.
The verdict
Hills bros by Hills Bros scores 70/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 19 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 19-component label is layered, beginning with Maltodextrin, Creamer, Partially Hydrogenated Coconut Oil. 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.
- 70/100
- Caution safety score
- 2
- flagged ingredients of 19 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- 0018400313712
- Barcode (UPC/EAN)
Computed directly from OpenFoodFacts ingredient data cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. See our methodology for the scoring formula.
What the Data Says About Hills bros
Hills bros by Hills Bros carries a composite safety score of 70/100, which we classify as "Caution" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 19 ingredients parsed from this label, 7 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Caseinate, Silicon Dioxide and 4 others), with 6 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 5 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 12 ingredients appear in neither registry, so they neither raise nor lower the score. Each additive rated caution-or-worse penalizes the composite. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This score is a transparent derived index we compute from that public data, not an official FDA rating or endorsement; see the Methodology page for the exact weighting.
Our scan identified 2 flagged ingredients in this product, components that at least one official source has classified as requiring caution, targeted avoidance, or further evaluation. Flagged ingredients are the items most likely to surface in FDA inspection findings, state-level ingredient bans, or outbreak-related recall notices, so the per-ingredient breakdown below is the most useful lens for anyone screening this product for a specific dietary concern.
On the NOVA processing scale, Hills bros is classified as Group 4 (Ultra-processed). NOVA measures industrial processing intensity rather than ingredient-level safety, so it complements the SAFFA and CSPI ratings: a product can be clean on additive flags but heavily processed, or lightly processed but carry individually flagged ingredients. Combining both lenses gives a fuller picture than either alone.
How the three scores on this page were derived
The composite for this product falls in the second band of the four-tier framework. That band collects labels whose registry-rated components pull the derived score down measurably without dominating it. Position inside a band is not visible from the band name, and two labels sharing it can differ in how many components were rated and how severely. This is a threshold on an index computed here from public data, not a regulatory classification of any kind; the exact cut-offs are published on the methodology page.
No Nutri-Score grade is present for this record in the OpenFoodFacts snapshot this page is built from. The nutritional dimension is absent rather than assessed and withheld: the grade depends on a complete declared nutrition panel, and community-contributed records vary in how much of that panel they carry. Nothing about the missing grade implies anything either way about the panel itself. The screen below covers additive ratings only and does not depend on the nutrition figures.
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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 70/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 2 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | Not available | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 32,623 products we've scored in the Beverages category, the average safety score is 90.5/100. Hills bros scores 20.5 points below that category average (70/100 vs. 90.5/100), 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 Beverages products
Hills bros lists 19 ingredients on its label
19 88th percentile a longer ingredient list than 88% of the 16,917 products we track
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
- 0–2
- 161 products (1%)
- 2–4
- 2,220 products (13%)
- 4–6
- 1,693 products (10%)
- 6–8
- 2,560 products (15%)
- 8–10
- 2,838 products (17%)
- 10–12
- 2,103 products (12%)
- 12–14
- 1,440 products (9%)
- 14–16
- 996 products (6%)
- 16–18
- 599 products (4%)
- 18–20
- 402 products (2%)
- 20–22
- 347 products (2%)
- 22–24
- 279 products (2%)
- 24–26
- 256 products (2%)
- 26–28
- 215 products (1%)
- 28–30
- 132 products (1%)
- 30–32
- 65 products (0%)
- 32–34
- 52 products (0%)
- 34–36
- 47 products (0%)
- 36–38
- 43 products (0%)
- 38–40
- 51 products (0%)
- 40 and above
- 418 products (2%)
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 16,917 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
Full Ingredient List
Maltodextrin, creamer (partially hydrogenated coconut oil, corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate [a milk derivative], dipotassium phosphate, mono - and diglycerides, silicon dioxide, soy lecithin) cocoa (processed with alkali), instant coffee, natural and artificial flavors, cellulose gum, salt, sodium aluminosilicate (to prevent caking), acesulfame potassium, sucralose (splenda brand).
Other products containing Partially Hydrogenated Coconut Oil
Partially Hydrogenated Coconut Oil is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 200 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
Data Sources
Data as of July 2026. Source: OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine.
Product data from OpenFoodFacts (ODbL). Ingredient safety ratings from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine. See our methodology for details.
This information is for reference only and does not constitute dietary or medical advice.
Related
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Product figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, and CSPI Chemical Cuisine 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 July 2026.
