Caution

Instant mashed potatoes

by Food Lion

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0035826079626 · Food Lion · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0035826079626 · Serving size 0.5 cup (28 g)

The verdict

Instant mashed potatoes by Food Lion scores 85/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 30 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The 30-component label is layered, beginning with Potato Flakes, Potato, Mono - And Diglycerides. 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.

85/100
Caution safety score
1
One flagged · of 30 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
0035826079626
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.

Composite profile score

One verdict from three independent sources

60/100

Grade C+

Ingredient Safety

85/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

N/A

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.

26079626 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Instant mashed potatoes label screening desk

SCORE-CAUT 85/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-LAYERED 30 ing. REG-PART 43% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-UNK Nutri n/a RANK-SHORT Len top 9% LEAD-FLAG TBHQ PHOTO-FINISH Chill · ±0 BOOK-OFF …079626 · July 2026

13 of 30 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: TBHQ). Source sheet 26079626 · 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: Chill · Nearest score peer is Chill 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 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.

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. Instant mashed potatoes: 85/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Instant mashed potatoes85/1002. Chill: 85/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Chill85/1003. Cooked Ham: 85/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Cooked Ham85/1004. Sliced Danish Ham: 85/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Sliced Danish Ham85/1005. Trail Mix: 85/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Trail Mix85/100
High-band neighbours for Instant mashed potatoes (85/100) outside Food Lion.
Chart values as text

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

Instant mashed potatoes
85/100
Chill
85/100
Cooked Ham
85/100
Sliced Danish Ham
85/100
Trail Mix
85/100

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. Instant mashed potatoes scores 12.7 points below that category average (85/100 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

Instant mashed potatoes lists 30 ingredients on its label

30 91st percentile a longer ingredient list than 91% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 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: 30 (91st 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 85/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 30 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Potato Flakes
2
Potato
3
Mono - And Diglycerides
4
Preservatives
5
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, LEAVENING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
GRAS
6
Sodium Bisulfite
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, PROCESSING AID, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
7
Citric Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, ENZYME, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Safe GRAS
8
Corn Syrup Solids
9
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
10
Maltodextrin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
11
Whey
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FORMULATION AID, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
12
Palm Oil
13
Nonfat Milk
14
Roasted Garlic
15
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
16
Natural Flavor
17
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
18
Sodium Caseinate
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
19
Dipotassium Phosphate
EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
20
Monoglycerides
21
Spice
22
Guar Gum
23
Sodium Silicoaluminate
24
Anti-caking Agent
25
Disodium Guanylate
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
Approved
26
Disodium Inosinate
FLAVOR ENHANCER, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Approved
27
Turmeric
28
Color
29
TBHQ
Preservative
Avoid Approved (preservative, 21 CFR 172.185)
30
Preservative

Full Ingredient List

Potato flakes (dehydrated potato, mono - and diglycerides, preservatives [sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bisulfite, citric acid]), corn syrup solids, salt, maltodextrin, whey, palm oil, contains 2% or less of each of the following: nonfat milk, dehydrated roasted garlic, sugar, natural flavor, dextrose, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, monoglycerides, spice, citric acid, guar gum, sodium silicoaluminate (anti-caking agent), disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, turmeric (color), tbhq (preservative).

Categories

Plant-based foods and beverages Plant-based foods Cereals and potatoes Meals Dried products Dried products to be rehydrated Purées Potato preparations Mashed potatoes Instant mashed potatoes

High-score cross-brand comparables for Instant mashed potatoes

Neighbours outside Food Lion with screening scores in the same high band as Instant mashed potatoes (85/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Food Lion; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

TBHQ is the first flagged ingredient selected from Instant mashed potatoes's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 30-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to TBHQ. Open TBHQ
  • Compare Instant mashed potatoes's 1 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 0035826079626: 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.