Archer Farms Red Velvet Cupcake Mix With White Chocolate Chips, Red Velvet Cake, & Vanilla Bean Frosting Mix, Red Velvet

Target Stores · Cake, Cookie & Cupcake Mixes · barcode 00085239941621

What stands out

From the label
The ingredients list Red No. 40 (Allura Red), which has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: West Virginia ban from 2028; EU warning label. Details

Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
Additives1 ingredient has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: West Virginia ban from 2028; EU warning label. Which
TypicalFDA's tests of cake, cookie & cupcake mixes show what's typical. See levels

Additives with restrictions somewhere

From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2023-10-26). Recipes change, so check the package you have.

Rules that apply to more than one of these

Texas: Warning label required from 2027-01-01 Labels developed on or after January 1, 2027 must warn that the product contains an ingredient not recommended for consumption in Australia, Canada, the EU or the UK. (SB 25 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
Louisiana: Warning label required from 2028-01-01 Products containing it must carry a QR code disclosure from January 1, 2028. (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.

Red No. 40 (Allura Red) (E129)

US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows Red No. 40 as a certified color additive. Source
EU: Allowed with warning label Allowed as E129, but foods containing it must say it "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex V) Source
California: Banned in school meals from 2027-12-31 Banned in food and drinks offered in California public schools from December 31, 2027. (AB 2316 (2024)) Source
West Virginia: Banned from 2028-01-01 Food containing it is treated as adulterated in West Virginia from January 1, 2028. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source
West Virginia: Banned in school meals from 2025-08-01 Banned in West Virginia school meals since August 1, 2025. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source
Louisiana: Banned in school meals from 2028-2029 school year Banned in Louisiana school food from the 2028-2029 school year (concession stands and vending machines exempt). (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source

Bleached flour

US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows bleached flour. Source

Typical for cake, cookie & cupcake mixes

FDA doesn't test this exact kind of food, so these are the closest foods it does test. Treat them as a rough guide.

Lead: typically 4.01 ppb (FDA, 57 samples, 2017-2020). A toddler reaches FDA's daily limit at about 380 g (13 oz) a day; an adult at about 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).
One serving (0.083 dry mix, 42 g, from the label):
11% of a toddler's daily limit
3% of an adult's daily limit
Cadmium: typically 10.1 ppb (FDA, 57 samples, 2017-2020). A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) a day; an adult at about 6.1 kg (13 lb).
One serving (0.083 dry mix, 42 g, from the label):
3% of a toddler's daily limit
under 1% of an adult's daily limit
Arsenic (total): typically 1.96 ppb (FDA, 57 samples, 2017-2020). No US agency limit we can cite.
Perchlorate: typically 1.02 ppb (FDA, 59 samples, 2008-2012). A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 5.2 kg (11 lb) a day; an adult at about 24 kg (53 lb).
One serving (0.083 dry mix, 42 g, from the label):
under 1% of a toddler's daily limit
under 1% of an adult's daily limit
Mercury: usually below 1 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.

FDA samples behind these numbers

Lead in Brownie: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 6.7, highest 8.7 ppb (2018-2020)
Lead in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 8.92, highest 16 ppb (2017-2020)
Lead in Cake, white with white icing: found in 9 of 27 samples, average 2.56, highest 17 ppb (2017-2020)
Cadmium in Brownie: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 21.3, highest 34 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 17.6, highest 40 ppb (2017-2020)
Cadmium in Cake, white with white icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 4.13, highest 6.4 ppb (2017-2020)
Mercury in Brownie: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 9 of 27 samples, average 0.45, highest 1.9 ppb (2017-2020)
Mercury in Cake, white with white icing: found in 0 of 27 samples, all below 1 ppb (2017-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Brownie: found in 2 of 3 samples, average 2.27, highest 3.7 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 25 of 27 samples, average 3.6, highest 4.6 ppb (2017-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Cake, white with white icing: found in 10 of 27 samples, average 1.72, highest 7.4 ppb (2017-2020)
Perchlorate in Brownie: found in 7 of 19 samples, average 1.37, highest 7 ppb (2008-2012)
Perchlorate in Cake, chocolate w/ icing: found in 12 of 20 samples, average 2.76, highest 14 ppb (2008-2012)
Perchlorate in Cake, white w/ icing (formerly yellow cake): found in 12 of 20 samples, average 1.88, highest 9 ppb (2008-2012)

"Typically" is FDA's middle sample. Daily amounts use the long-run average and each chemical's daily limit (EPA reference dose, or FDA's level for lead) for a 33-lb toddler and a 154-lb adult. ppb = micrograms per kilogram of food. Source: FDA Total Diet Study.

Not tested

No published results for this product cover: Metals, Perchlorate, Phthalates (plastic softeners), Phthalate substitutes, Bisphenols. That means nobody has published a test, not that these are absent.

Ingredients (from the label)

CUPCAKE MIX: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, ENZYME, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, WHOLE MILK POWDER, NONFAT DRY MILK, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL VANILLA EXTRACT), ALKALIZED COCOA POWDER, BUTTERMILK POWDER, BAKING POWDER (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE, CORN STARCH, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR, RED 40. FROSTING MIX: POWDERED SUGAR (SUGAR, CORN STARCH), NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR, DRIED VANILLA BEAN PIECES.

From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2023-10-26. Labels change; check the package.

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