Spoon Scout

Target Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Target · Cakes, Cupcakes, Snack Cakes · barcode 00232194509995

What stands out

  • From the label

    The ingredients list Red No. 40 (Allura Red) and Partially hydrogenated oils, which have stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: No longer allowed by FDA; EU warning label. Details

  • Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
  • RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
  • Additives2 ingredients have stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: No longer allowed by FDA; EU warning label. Which
  • TypicalFDA's tests of cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes show what's typical. See levels

Additives with restrictions somewhere

From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2019-04-01). 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

Partially hydrogenated oils

  • US (FDA): Authorization revoked FDA determined in 2015 that they are no longer generally recognized as safe; makers had to remove them, with final compliance dates in 2018-2020. Labels on file may predate that. (80 FR 34650 (2015)) Source

Bleached flour

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

Typical for cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes

What FDA found when it bought and tested this kind of food across the US. These are not tests of this product.

FDA samples behind these numbers
  • 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 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 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 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 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)

SUGAR, ENRICHED BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), CREAM CHEESE (MILK, CREAM, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, CAROB BEAN GUM), MARGARINE (PALM OIL, WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, SALT, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ANNATTO EXTRACT, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA [PRESERVATIVE], VITAMIN A PALMITATE), BUTTERMILK, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (PALM AND SOYBEAN OILS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, POLYSORBATE 60, TBHQ[PRESERVATIE]), SOYBEAN OIL, EGG WHITES, SKIM MILK, EGGS, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, BUTTER OIL, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVOR), COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, ALUMINUM SULFATE), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, WHEY, PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONO AND DIESTERS OF FATS AND FATTY ACIDS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM CASEINATE, GUAR GUM, RED 40, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, SOY LECITHIN, POLYSORBATE 60, XANTHAN GUM, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL.

From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2019-04-01. Labels change; check the package.

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