Chocolate Roll — DUMP

Munch or Dump rates Chocolate Roll by The Father’s Table DUMP — score 17/90.

The first three ingredients are three different sugars, and the supporting cast includes propylene glycol — the stuff also found in antifreeze formulations. 'Baked from scratch with high quality, fresh ingredients' is a lovely sentence that this 20-ingredient factory scroll does not support. Donating 50% of profits to charity is genuinely admirable; it just doesn't change what's in the cake.

Why this verdict

• 20 ingredients — past the >18 threshold where a formula stops being a recipe and becomes a chemistry inventory
• Triple sweetener stack up front: sugar, invert sugar, AND glucose syrup as ingredients 1-3 — a sweetness system, not baking
• Hyper-palatable snack triad: sugar + canola oil + modified food starch, engineered for craving
• Propylene glycol, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, and magnesium stearate — humectants and emulsifiers no scratch kitchen owns
• Artificial flavor plus potassium sorbate and dual gums (guar + xanthan) complete the industrial shelf-life package

Ingredients (20)

• Sugar (moderate) — Added for sweetness, can contribute to calorie content.
• Invert Sugar (caution) — Yet another sweetener layered in to keep the bar sweet and soft.
• glucose syrup (caution) — A second refined sweetener in the caramel.
• wheat (safe) — Fermented for flavor and aroma; contains gluten.
• cocoa processed with alkali (safe) — Dutched cocoa for chocolate flavor and color.
• modified food starch (moderate) — Industrial thickener that gives the condensed texture; a processing marker.
• propylene glycol (caution) — Industrial humectant to keep the creme soft. Approved but not a kitchen ingredient.
• Guar Gum (moderate) — Used as a firming agent or conditioner; not necessary.
• Xanthan Gum (moderate) — Industrial thickener.
• CANOLA OIL (moderate) — Refined vegetable oil.
• Natural and Artificial Flavor (moderate) — Added flavor system, including artificial flavor.
• Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (moderate) — Additive used to keep the fries from graying; a processing aid.
• Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate (caution) — Dough and cream conditioner — another engineered emulsifier.
• Whey Protein Concentrate (safe) — Dairy protein used for body and freeze-thaw stability.
• Potassium Sorbate (moderate) — Preservative for shelf life.
• Soy Lecithin (safe) — Common emulsifier, generally benign in these amounts.
• Sunflower Lecithin (safe) — Emulsifier; benign.
• MAGNESIUM STEARATE (moderate) — Anti-caking/flow agent; harmless in these amounts but a processing tell.
• Oat Fiber (safe) — Isolated fiber that bumps the fiber number.
• beta carotene (safe) — Natural color source rather than an artificial dye.