Mini Chocolate Cup Cakes — DUMP

Munch or Dump rates Mini Chocolate Cup Cakes by Everyday Favorites DUMP — score 17/90.

Partially hydrogenated oil, four artificial dyes, and a 50-ingredient lab stack make this about as processed as a snack cake gets.

Why this verdict

• Partially hydrogenated oil — an industrial trans fat tied to heart disease
• Four sweeteners stacked: sugar (#1), corn syrup, dextrose, corn syrup solids
• Four artificial dyes including Red 3, plus natural & artificial flavors
• 50+ ingredients dominated by emulsifiers, stabilizers, and refined starch
• Bleached enriched flour — refined to nothing, then vitamin-patched

Ingredients (20)

• Sugar (moderate) — Added for sweetness, can contribute to calorie content.
• Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (moderate) — Refined, bleached flour; fast carbohydrate with no fiber.
• Vegetable oil (palm, soybean, palm kernel, canola) (concerning) — A blend of refined oils heavy in palm and palm kernel — high in saturated fat and industrially processed.
• cocoa processed with alkali (safe) — Dutched cocoa for chocolate flavor and color.
• Corn Syrup (caution) — Added sugar baked into the crust.
• Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (soybean and/or cottonseed) (harmful) — Industrial trans fat — directly raises bad cholesterol and heart-disease risk.
• Dextrose (caution) — Second added sweetener.
• corn syrup solids (caution) — One of four sweetener sources.
• modified cornstarch (moderate) — Industrial thickener; NOVA 4 marker.
• Mono- and diglycerides (moderate) — Emulsifier that keeps fat and water blended - a processed-food marker.
• Soy Lecithin (safe) — Common emulsifier, generally benign in these amounts.
• POLYGLYCEROL ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS (moderate) — Synthetic emulsifier; a marker of industrial processing.
• Polysorbate 60 (moderate) — Synthetic emulsifier stabilizing cake and icing.
• Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) (moderate) — Thickener/emulsifier linked in studies to gut inflammation.
• Sodium stearoyl lactylate / DATEM / calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (moderate) — Stacked dough-conditioner emulsifiers signaling an industrial formula.
• Potassium Sorbate (moderate) — Preservative for shelf life.
• Natural & Artificial Flavors (caution) — Synthetic flavoring system.
• Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Red 3, Blue 1, Red 40 (concerning) — Four artificial dyes including Red 3 (banned in cosmetics for cancer link) — purely cosmetic, linked to hyperactivity in kids.
• Carnauba wax / confectioner's glaze / gum arabic (safe) — Coatings and gums for shine and structure — inert but more additives.
• Eggs / nonfat milk / whey (safe) — Minor real-food dairy and egg content.