Smores cereal
by Post
Scores 95/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.
The verdict
Smores cereal by Post scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 35 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 35-component record, beginning with Sugar, Corn Meal, Whole Grain Wheat. 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.
- 95/100
- Safe safety score
- 1
- flagged ingredient of 35 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.
What the Data Says About Smores cereal
Smores cereal by Post carries a composite safety score of 95/100, which we classify as "Safe" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 35 ingredients parsed from this label, 15 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Calcium Pantothenate, Zinc Oxide and 12 others), with 12 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 7 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 20 ingredients appear in neither registry, so they neither raise nor lower the score. Each additive rated caution-or-worse penalizes the composite. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This score is a transparent derived index we compute from that public data, not an official FDA rating or endorsement; see the Methodology page for the exact weighting.
Our scan identified 1 flagged ingredient in this product, components that at least one official source has classified as requiring caution, targeted avoidance, or further evaluation. Flagged ingredients are the items most likely to surface in FDA inspection findings, state-level ingredient bans, or outbreak-related recall notices, so the per-ingredient breakdown below is the most useful lens for anyone screening this product for a specific dietary concern.
On the NOVA processing scale, Smores cereal is classified as Group 4 (Ultra-processed). NOVA measures industrial processing intensity rather than ingredient-level safety, so it complements the SAFFA and CSPI ratings: a product can be clean on additive flags but heavily processed, or lightly processed but carry individually flagged ingredients. Combining both lenses gives a fuller picture than either alone.
How the three scores on this page were derived
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.
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.
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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 95/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 1 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | E | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
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. Smores cereal scores 2.7 points below that category average (95/100 vs. 97.7/100), 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 Plant-based foods and beverages products
Smores cereal lists 35 ingredients on its label
35 95th percentile a longer ingredient list than 95% of the 63,434 products we track
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
- 0–2
- 3,888 products (6%)
- 2–4
- 7,927 products (12%)
- 4–6
- 8,831 products (14%)
- 6–8
- 7,029 products (11%)
- 8–10
- 6,313 products (10%)
- 10–12
- 4,193 products (7%)
- 12–14
- 3,461 products (5%)
- 14–16
- 3,042 products (5%)
- 16–18
- 2,501 products (4%)
- 18–20
- 2,052 products (3%)
- 20–22
- 1,820 products (3%)
- 22–24
- 1,760 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 1,622 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 1,604 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 1,363 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 1,200 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 1,076 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 902 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 644 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 540 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 1,666 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
Full Ingredient List
sugar, corn meal, whole grain wheat, marshmallows (sugar, modified cornstarch, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, natural and artificial flavor, sodium hexametaphosphate), canola oil, corn flour, molasses, salt, fructose, honey, calcium carbonate, corn syrup, baking soda, cocoa (processed with alkali), soy lecithin, dextrose, caramel color, trisodium phosphate, natural and artificial flavor, bht added to preserve freshness, vitamins and minerals: ferric orthophosphate (source of iron), niacinamide (vitamin b3), zinc oxide, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), calcium pantothenate (vitamin b5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), folic acid,
Other products containing Bht Added To Preserve Freshness
Bht Added To Preserve Freshness is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 71 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
Data Sources
Data as of July 2026. Source: OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine.
Product data from OpenFoodFacts (ODbL). Ingredient safety ratings from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine. See our methodology for details.
This information is for reference only and does not constitute dietary or medical advice.
Related
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Product figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, and CSPI Chemical Cuisine data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.
