Variety Cheesecake — BULLSHIT

Munch or Dump rates Variety Cheesecake by The Father's Table Llc. BULLSHIT — score 0/90.

The brand sells "natural vanilla" and "no artificial additives," but the strawberry layer is dyed with FD&C Red 40 & Blue 1, flavored with artificial flavor, and the vanilla is synthetic vanillin. A 50+ ingredient lab build hiding behind a from-scratch image.

Why this verdict

• "Natural" / no-artificial branding, but contains artificial flavor and FD&C Red 40 & Blue 1
• Advertises "natural vanilla" yet the chocolate uses synthetic vanillin
• Sugar, oils and margarine sit near the top of a 50+ ingredient list
• Stacked emulsifiers (polysorbate 80, mono & diglycerides, soy lecithin) and modified starches
• Ultra-processed (NOVA 4) dessert dressed up as from-scratch

Ingredients (20)

• Cream Cheese (moderate) — Real dairy but carries added gums (xanthan, carob, guar) and saturated fat.
• Sugar (concerning) — Second ingredient and the dominant nutritional driver; added sugar in liquid form spikes blood glucose and adds empty calories.
• Canola and/or Palm Oil (moderate) — Refined oils used for fat and texture; palm is heavy in saturated fat.
• Margarine (Palm/Soybean oil, soy lecithin, beta carotene, vitamin A palmitate) (concerning) — Processed fat blend with emulsifier and added colorant.
• WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR (safe) — A whole grain, but it's a minor structural ingredient here, not the point of the product.
• Enriched bleached wheat flour (moderate) — Refined, bleached flour with synthetic vitamins added back.
• Artificial Flavor) (concerning) — Lab-made flavoring in the strawberry filling that directly contradicts the natural branding.
• FD&C Red 40 & Blue 1 (concerning) — Synthetic petroleum-derived dyes linked to hyperactivity in sensitive kids; the clearest contradiction of the no-artificial claim.
• Modified Corn Starch (concerning) — Industrially modified thickener — ultra-processed.
• VANILLIN (moderate) — Synthetic vanilla flavor in the chocolate chips, despite the "natural vanilla" marketing.
• Glucose / Invert Sugar / Brown Sugar / Molasses (concerning) — Multiple additional sweetener sources layered on top of the sugar.
• caramel color (moderate) — Added coloring agent, another artificial cosmetic additive.
• Carrageenan (moderate) — Thickener/stabilizer appearing in several sub-ingredients; some gut-irritation concerns.
• POLYSORBATE 80 (concerning) — Synthetic emulsifier in the cream; research links it to gut-barrier disruption.
• Mono & diglycerides (moderate) — Industrial emulsifier; a hallmark of processed bakery fat.
• modified tapioca starch (moderate) — Another chemically modified thickening starch.
• Xanthan / Guar / Locust Bean / Cellulose Gums (moderate) — Stacked texture-stabilizing gums throughout the formula.
• Potassium Sorbate (moderate) — Synthetic preservative for shelf stability.
• Apocarotenal (color) (moderate) — Added orange-red colorant for cosmetic effect only.
• Eggs (Dried) / Milk solids (safe) — Real dairy and egg components that give the base body.