Avoid

Mint Dark Chocolate

by M&M's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0040000512844 · M&M's · Snacks. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0040000512844 · Serving size 16 pieces (1 oz / 28 g)

The verdict

Mint Dark Chocolate by M&M's scores 0/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 29 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 10 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 29-component label is layered, beginning with Semisweet Chocolate, Sugar, Chocolate Processed With Alkali. 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.

0/100
Avoid safety score
10
Many flagged · of 29 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
C
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

18/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

0/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

C

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.

00512844 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Mint Dark Chocolate label screening desk

SCORE-AVOID 0/100 FLAG-MANY 10 flagged LEN-LAYERED 29 ing. REG-PART 52% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-MID Len top 21% LEAD-FLAG Blue 2 PHOTO-FINISH Mms mega peanut · ±0 BOOK-OFF …512844 · July 2026

15 of 29 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Blue 2). Source sheet 00512844 · 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: Mms mega peanut chocolate candies sharing size · Nearest score peer is Mms mega peanut chocolate candies sharing size 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.

Nutri-Score settled on its middle grade here, the band the algorithm produces when the penalty and credit sides of its nutrient ledger come out close to balanced. A mid-scale grade is a statement about the panel as a whole rather than about any single nutrient, and products arrive at it by very different routes: a moderate profile across every term, or high marks on some offset by heavy penalties on others. The grade is computed separately from the ingredient screen below and the two are not comparable measures.

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. Mint Dark Chocolate: 0/100 · 0% of the leader · rank #11. Mint Dark Chocolate0/1002. Mms mega peanut chocolate candies sharing size: 0/100 · 0% of the leader · rank #22. Mms mega peanut chocolate…0/1003. Chocolate Candies: 0/100 · 0% of the leader · rank #33. Chocolate Candies0/1004. Mm's chocolate candies: 0/100 · 0% of the leader · rank #44. Mm's chocolate candies0/1005. Caramel chocolate candies, caramel: 0/100 · 0% of the leader · rank #55. Caramel chocolate candies…0/100
Cross-brand screening scores near Mint Dark Chocolate's 0/100 while 34% of its parsed list carries a caution flag.
Chart values as text

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

Mint Dark Chocolate
0/100
Mms mega peanut chocolate candies sharing size
0/100
Chocolate Candies
0/100
Mm's chocolate candies
0/100
Caramel chocolate candies, caramel
0/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 88,006 products we've scored in the Snacks category, the average safety score is 86.1/100. Mint Dark Chocolate scores 86.1 points below that category average (0/100 vs. 86.1/100), 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 Snacks products

Mint Dark Chocolate lists 29 ingredients on its label

29 79th percentile a longer ingredient list than 79% of the 81,477 products we track

0–2: 275 products (0%). Below this entry. 2–4: 2,901 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 4,248 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 5,408 products (7%). Below this entry. 8–10: 5,486 products (7%). Below this entry. 10–12: 5,840 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 6,252 products (8%). Below this entry. 14–16: 6,724 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 6,221 products (8%). Below this entry. 18–20: 5,168 products (6%). Below this entry. 20–22: 4,508 products (6%). Below this entry. 22–24: 3,809 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 3,567 products (4%). Below this entry. 26–28: 2,829 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 2,282 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. 30–32: 1,905 products (2%). Above this entry. 32–34: 1,715 products (2%). Above this entry. 34–36: 1,572 products (2%). Above this entry. 36–38: 1,417 products (2%). Above this entry. 38–40: 1,284 products (2%). Above this entry. 40–42: 8,066 products (10%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Snacks 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

81,477 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 29 (79th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
275 products (0%)
2–4
2,901 products (4%)
4–6
4,248 products (5%)
6–8
5,408 products (7%)
8–10
5,486 products (7%)
10–12
5,840 products (7%)
12–14
6,252 products (8%)
14–16
6,724 products (8%)
16–18
6,221 products (8%)
18–20
5,168 products (6%)
20–22
4,508 products (6%)
22–24
3,809 products (5%)
24–26
3,567 products (4%)
26–28
2,829 products (3%)
28–30
2,282 products (3%)
30–32
1,905 products (2%)
32–34
1,715 products (2%)
34–36
1,572 products (2%)
36–38
1,417 products (2%)
38–40
1,284 products (2%)
40 and above
8,066 products (10%)

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 81,477 Snacks 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 0/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (10 flagged of 29 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Semisweet Chocolate
2
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
3
Chocolate Processed With Alkali
4
Natural Chocolate
5
Cocoa Butter
6
Milkfat
7
Soy Lecithin
8
Artificial And Natural Flavors
9
Milk Chocolate
10
Skim Milk
11
Lactose
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Certain People Should Avoid GRAS
12
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
13
Artificial Flavors
14
Cornstarch
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
15
1% Corn Syrup
16
Dextrin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Safe GRAS
17
Coloring
18
Yellow 5
Avoid Approved (certified color)
19
Blue 1
Caution Approved (certified color)
20
Yellow 5
Avoid Approved (certified color)
21
Blue 1
Caution Approved (certified color)
22
Yellow 6
Avoid Approved (certified color)
23
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)
24
Yellow 6
Avoid Approved (certified color)
25
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)
26
Blue 2
Avoid Approved (certified color)
27
Blue 2
Avoid Approved (certified color)
28
Natural Flavor
29
Gum Acacia

Full Ingredient List

SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS), MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, SKIM MILK, COCOA BUTTER, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS), SUGAR, CORNSTARCH, 1% CORN SYRUP, DEXTRIN, COLORING (YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, YELLOW 5 LAKE, BLUE 1 LAKE, YELLOW 6, RED 40, YELLOW 6 LAKE, RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 2 LAKE, BLUE 2), NATURAL FLAVOR, GUM ACACIA.

Other products containing 1% Corn Syrup

1% Corn Syrup is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 4 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

Snacks Sweet snacks Cocoa and its products Confectioneries Chocolate candies Bonbons Chocolates Milk chocolates Flavoured chocolates Flavoured milk chocolates Milk chocolate candies

Lower-score cross-brand comparables for Mint Dark Chocolate

Neighbours outside M&M's in the same lower screening band as Mint Dark Chocolate (0/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within M&M's; these peers cross brands.

Nearest screening score

Nearest cross-brand products by screening score: 34% of this label's ingredients carry a caution flag.

Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)

Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (29 on 0040000512844).

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Blue 2 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Mint Dark Chocolate's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 29-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Blue 2. Open Blue 2
  • Compare Mint Dark Chocolate's 10 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 0040000512844: 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.