Safe

Hot Chocolate Mix

by Aspen Mulling

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0753181200072 · Aspen Mulling · Beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0753181200072 · Serving size 0.25 PACKAGE (24 g)

The verdict

Hot Chocolate Mix by Aspen Mulling scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 25 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The 25-component label is layered, beginning with Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Cream Powder. 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.

95/100
Safe safety score
1
One flagged · of 25 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
0753181200072
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

67/100

Grade B-

Ingredient Safety

95/100

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.

81200072 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Hot Chocolate Mix label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-LAYERED 25 ing. REG-PART 40% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-UNK Nutri n/a RANK-SHORT Len top 7% LEAD-FLAG Carrageenan PHOTO-FINISH Instant cider spice · ±0 BOOK-OFF …200072 · July 2026

10 of 25 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Carrageenan). Source sheet 81200072 · 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: Instant cider spice · Nearest score peer is Instant cider spice 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.

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. Hot Chocolate Mix: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Hot Chocolate Mix95/1002. Instant cider spice: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Instant cider spice95/1003. Mai's, Asian Gourmet Marinating Sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Mai's, Asian Gourmet Mari…95/1004. Willie byrd, sauce, dark chocolate: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Willie byrd, sauce, dark …95/1005. Dark Chocolate Sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Dark Chocolate Sauce95/100
High-band neighbours for Hot Chocolate Mix (95/100) outside Aspen Mulling.
Chart values as text

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

Hot Chocolate Mix
95/100
Instant cider spice
95/100
Mai's, Asian Gourmet Marinating Sauce
95/100
Willie byrd, sauce, dark chocolate
95/100
Dark Chocolate Sauce
95/100

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. Hot Chocolate Mix scores 4.5 points above that category average (95/100 vs. 90.5/100), so it is roughly typical for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Beverages products

Hot Chocolate Mix lists 25 ingredients on its label

25 93rd percentile a longer ingredient list than 93% of the 16,917 products we track

0–2: 161 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 2,220 products (13%). Below this entry. 4–6: 1,699 products (10%). Below this entry. 6–8: 2,564 products (15%). Below this entry. 8–10: 2,835 products (17%). Below this entry. 10–12: 2,099 products (12%). Below this entry. 12–14: 1,442 products (9%). Below this entry. 14–16: 997 products (6%). Below this entry. 16–18: 595 products (4%). Below this entry. 18–20: 402 products (2%). Below this entry. 20–22: 347 products (2%). Below this entry. 22–24: 277 products (2%). Below this entry. 24–26: 256 products (2%). This entry sits in this band. 26–28: 216 products (1%). Above this entry. 28–30: 131 products (1%). Above this entry. 30–32: 66 products (0%). Above this entry. 32–34: 51 products (0%). Above this entry. 34–36: 47 products (0%). Above this entry. 36–38: 43 products (0%). Above this entry. 38–40: 51 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 418 products (2%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published 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

16,917 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 25 (93rd percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
161 products (1%)
2–4
2,220 products (13%)
4–6
1,699 products (10%)
6–8
2,564 products (15%)
8–10
2,835 products (17%)
10–12
2,099 products (12%)
12–14
1,442 products (9%)
14–16
997 products (6%)
16–18
595 products (4%)
18–20
402 products (2%)
20–22
347 products (2%)
22–24
277 products (2%)
24–26
256 products (2%)
26–28
216 products (1%)
28–30
131 products (1%)
30–32
66 products (0%)
32–34
51 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

How the 95/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 25 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
2
Cocoa Powder
3
Cream Powder
4
Sunflower Oil
5
Corn Syrup Solids
6
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
7
Mono & Diglycerides
8
Dipotassium Phosphate
EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
9
Tricalcium Phosphate
10
Soy Lecithin
11
Tocopherols
ANTIOXIDANT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
12
Food Starch-modified
13
Corn
14
Nonfat Milk
15
Natural Chocolate Flavor
16
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
17
Natural Flavor
18
Silicon Dioxide
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT
Safe GRAS
19
Anti-caking Agent
20
Natural Cream Flavor
21
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
22
Natural Cream Flavor
23
Whey Protein Concentrate
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
24
Xanthan Gum
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FORMULATION AID, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Approved
25
Carrageenan
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
Caution GRAS

Full Ingredient List

Sugar, cocoa powder (processed with alkali), cream powder (sunflower oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono & diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, soy lecithin, tocopherols), food starch-modified (corn), nonfat dried milk, chocolate flavor [dextrose, natural flavor, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent)], cream flavor (maltodextrin, natural cream flavor), whey protein concentrate, xanthan gum, carrageenan, natural flavor, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent).

Categories

Beverages Dried products Dried products to be rehydrated Dehydrated beverages

High-score cross-brand comparables for Hot Chocolate Mix

Neighbours outside Aspen Mulling with screening scores in the same high band as Hot Chocolate Mix (95/100 here). The 2 same-brand links above stay within Aspen Mulling; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Carrageenan is the first flagged ingredient selected from Hot Chocolate Mix's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 25-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Carrageenan. Open Carrageenan
  • Compare Hot Chocolate Mix'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 0753181200072: 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.