Concern

Dark Chocolate

by Brach's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0041420113116 · Brach's. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0041420113116 · Serving size 39g

The verdict

Dark Chocolate by Brach's scores 60/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 18 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 18-component label is layered, beginning with Sweet Chocolate, Sugar, Chocolate Liquor. 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.

60/100
Concern safety score
2
Few flagged · of 18 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
E
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

60/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

E

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.

20113116 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Dark Chocolate label screening desk

SCORE-CONC 60/100 FLAG-FEW 2 flagged LEN-LAYERED 18 ing. REG-SPARSE 22% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-MID Len top 35% LEAD-FLAG Titanium Dioxide PHOTO-FINISH Lemonhead, Sugar Free · ±0 BOOK-OFF …113116 · July 2026

4 of 18 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Titanium Dioxide). Source sheet 20113116 · 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: Lemonhead, Sugar Free Lemon Drops Hard Candy · Nearest score peer is Lemonhead, Sugar Free Lemon Drops Hard Candy 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.

Nutri-Score assigned its lowest band to this label. The algorithm reserves that grade for nutrition panels where the values it penalises sit well above the components it credits. The two systems on this page measure genuinely different things: a product can hold this grade while carrying no additive flagged by the registries screened below, and a product graded well can carry several. Neither reading substitutes for the other, and the per-component table is where the additive picture is set out.

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. Dark Chocolate: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Dark Chocolate60/1002. Lemonhead, Sugar Free Lemon Drops Hard Candy: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Lemonhead, Sugar Free Lem…60/1003. Sour Brite Eggs Shaped Gummies With Candy Shell: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Sour Brite Eggs Shaped Gu…60/1004. Sour Brite Eggs Gummie Candy: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Sour Brite Eggs Gummie Ca…60/1005. Fruit Mix Assorted Fruit Flavored Candies: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Fruit Mix Assorted Fruit …60/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Dark Chocolate (60/100 on 18 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

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

Dark Chocolate
60/100
Lemonhead, Sugar Free Lemon Drops Hard Candy
60/100
Sour Brite Eggs Shaped Gummies With Candy Shell
60/100
Sour Brite Eggs Gummie Candy
60/100
Fruit Mix Assorted Fruit Flavored Candies
60/100

Ingredient-list length vs every product we publish

Dark Chocolate lists 18 ingredients on its label

18 65th percentile a longer ingredient list than 65% of the 359,392 products we track

0–2: 6,050 products (2%). Below this entry. 2–4: 24,522 products (7%). Below this entry. 4–6: 31,054 products (9%). Below this entry. 6–8: 30,981 products (9%). Below this entry. 8–10: 31,618 products (9%). Below this entry. 10–12: 29,943 products (8%). Below this entry. 12–14: 28,403 products (8%). Below this entry. 14–16: 27,417 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 24,508 products (7%). Below this entry. 18–20: 19,062 products (5%). This entry sits in this band. 20–22: 14,679 products (4%). Above this entry. 22–24: 12,238 products (3%). Above this entry. 24–26: 10,830 products (3%). Above this entry. 26–28: 9,344 products (3%). Above this entry. 28–30: 7,955 products (2%). Above this entry. 30–32: 6,753 products (2%). Above this entry. 32–34: 5,918 products (2%). Above this entry. 34–36: 5,282 products (1%). Above this entry. 36–38: 4,531 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 4,063 products (1%). Above this entry. 40–42: 24,241 products (7%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published 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

359,392 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 18 (65th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
6,050 products (2%)
2–4
24,522 products (7%)
4–6
31,054 products (9%)
6–8
30,981 products (9%)
8–10
31,618 products (9%)
10–12
29,943 products (8%)
12–14
28,403 products (8%)
14–16
27,417 products (8%)
16–18
24,508 products (7%)
18–20
19,062 products (5%)
20–22
14,679 products (4%)
22–24
12,238 products (3%)
24–26
10,830 products (3%)
26–28
9,344 products (3%)
28–30
7,955 products (2%)
30–32
6,753 products (2%)
32–34
5,918 products (2%)
34–36
5,282 products (1%)
36–38
4,531 products (1%)
38–40
4,063 products (1%)
40 and above
24,241 products (7%)

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. No category with enough published products was available for this record, so the comparison runs against the whole published catalogue.

Full Ingredient List

SWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN [AN EMULSIFIER], VANILLA), SUGAR, ALMONDS, ACACIA (GUM ARABIC), TITANIUM DIOXIDE [COLOR], CORN SYRUP CONFECTIONER'S GLAZE (SHELLAC), CARNAUBA WAX, PEPPERMINT OIL, MICA (COLOR), RED 40, Y

Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Dark Chocolate

Neighbours outside Brach's near Dark Chocolate's mid-band score (60/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Brach's; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Titanium Dioxide is the first flagged ingredient selected from Dark Chocolate's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 18-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Titanium Dioxide. Open Titanium Dioxide
  • Compare Dark Chocolate'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 0041420113116: 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.