Safe

Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix

by Trader Joe's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 00688154 · Trader Joe's · Trail-mix. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 00688154 · Serving size 1 serving (32 g)

The verdict

Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix by Trader Joe's scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 38 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 0 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 38-component record, beginning with Unbleached Wheat Flour, Yeast, Baking Soda. 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.

100/100
Safe safety score
0
None flagged · of 38 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

63/100

Grade C+

Ingredient Safety

100/100

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.

00688154 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 100/100 FLAG-CLEAN 0 flagged LEN-DENSE 38 ing. REG-SPARSE 16% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-D Nutri-D RANK-MID Len top 34% LEAD-RARE Sodium Hydroxide PHOTO-FINISH Freeze Dried Berry · ±0 BOOK-OFF …688154 · July 2026

6 of 38 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Hydroxide). Source sheet 00688154 · 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: Freeze Dried Berry Medley · Nearest score peer is Freeze Dried Berry Medley at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

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

Within the four-tier shelf-label framework this site publishes, the composite for this product falls in the highest band. That band is defined by a threshold on the derived score alone: it is where labels land once components carrying caution-or-worse registry ratings contribute little or nothing to the deduction. The band is a summary of what the screened registries return for the components that were parsed, so it inherits their coverage gaps — a component absent from both registries neither raises nor lowers the figure. The threshold and the weighting behind it are set out on the methodology page.

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.

The declared list is among the longer ones in this catalogue. A component set this wide means the screen returns many individual ratings, and the composite accumulates a large number of small contributions instead of turning on a handful of entries. At this length the per-component table below is substantially more informative than the single figure, because the figure compresses a great deal of variation into one number.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Stepping It Up Spicy Snac…100/1002. Freeze Dried Berry Medley: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Freeze Dried Berry Medley100/1003. Blueberry Lemon Ginger Stress-Free Sparkling Drink, Blueberry Lemon Ginger: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Blueberry Lemon Ginger St…100/1004. Berri Lyte: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Berri Lyte100/1005. Pizza Margherita: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Pizza Margherita100/100
High-band neighbours for Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix (100/100) outside Trader Joe's.
Chart values as text

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

Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix
100/100
Freeze Dried Berry Medley
100/100
Blueberry Lemon Ginger Stress-Free Sparkling Drink, Blueberry Lemon Ginger
100/100
Berri Lyte
100/100
Pizza Margherita
100/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 83 products we've scored in the Trail-mix category, the average safety score is 80.8/100. Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix scores 19.2 points above that category average (100/100 vs. 80.8/100), so it is a comparatively strong pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Trail-mix products

Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix lists 38 ingredients on its label

38 66th percentile a longer ingredient list than 66% of the 64 products we track

6–8: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 8–10: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 12–14: 6 products (9%). Below this entry. 14–16: 5 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 7 products (11%). Below this entry. 18–20: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 20–22: 3 products (5%). Below this entry. 22–24: 3 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 1 products (2%). Below this entry. 30–32: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 32–34: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 34–36: 3 products (5%). Below this entry. 36–38: 2 products (3%). Below this entry. 38–40: 2 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. 40–42: 20 products (31%). Above this entry. This product 6 42 every published Trail-mix 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

64 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 38 (66th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

6–8
2 products (3%)
8–10
2 products (3%)
12–14
6 products (9%)
14–16
5 products (8%)
16–18
7 products (11%)
18–20
2 products (3%)
20–22
3 products (5%)
22–24
3 products (5%)
24–26
2 products (3%)
28–30
1 products (2%)
30–32
2 products (3%)
32–34
2 products (3%)
34–36
3 products (5%)
36–38
2 products (3%)
38–40
2 products (3%)
40 and above
20 products (31%)

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 64 Trail-mix products we publish with a parsed label, not against the whole catalogue, because list length varies far more between categories than within one.

Full Ingredient List

unbleached wheat flour, yeast, baking soda, sodium hydroxide, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, jalapeño powder, yeast extract, citric acid, parsley, natural flavors, rice flour, sesame chip, unbleached enriched flour, malted barley flour, soybean oil, bulgur wheat, tapioca maltodextrin, red bell peppers, brown sugar, garlic powder, yeast, spices, salt, turmeric, beet powder, corn meal, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, natural flavors, citric acid, vegetable oil, chile powder blend, onion powder, garlic powder, lime juice solids, natural flavors, citric acid, vegetable oil, roasted corn kernels, corn, canola oil, sea salt, red bell pepper powder, chile pepper, citric acid, maltodextrin, paprika, lime juice solids, natural flavor, vegetable oil

Categories

Trail-mix

High-score cross-brand comparables for Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix

Neighbours outside Trader Joe's with screening scores in the same high band as Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Trader Joe's; these peers cross brands.

Trace this label’s coverage

Trace this label’s coverage

6 of 38 parsed ingredients on Stepping It Up Spicy Snack Bar Mix match at least one source registry. Use the ingredient records to see which entries carry source context and which remain unmatched.

  • Review Sodium Hydroxide as the most distinctive source-covered entry on this label. Inspect ingredients
  • Compare this product with a nearby cross-brand screening score. Compare labels
  • Read the methodology before treating source coverage as a food, medical, or dietary conclusion. Read the boundary

This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.

Barcode 00688154: 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.