Kickstart Orange Citrus
Kickstart Orange Citrus by Mountain Dew has 11 tracked ingredients, with an overall safety score of 4.2 out of 5, in line with the 4.12/5 average across all scored products.
- Safety score in line with the 4.12/5 average across all scored products
- NOVA processing classification: group 4
Beverages and beverages preparations / Beverages / Energy drinks
How This Score Is Built
PlainIngredients safety scores are a transparent, editorially-derived index synthesizing FDA status, EU regulatory status, US state actions, and published research into a single 1-5 scale, not an official government rating. 11 of 11 ingredients tracked for Kickstart Orange Citrus have a scored rating so far. Data current as of 2026-09-07.
Sourced from Open Food Facts, FDA, and EU regulatory records. Verify with the FDA → See our full scoring methodology.
Where Kickstart Orange Citrus sits nationally
Average ingredient safety score vs. 58,710 other scored products in PlainIngredients
4.2 Top 40% higher than 60% of 58,710 scored products
Average ingredient safety score (1 = highest risk, 5 = safest), bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more scored products. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainIngredients ingredient safety index · 2026-09-07
Ingredient Safety Breakdown
Processing Level
Ultra-processed products are formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives. They typically contain ingredients not commonly used in home cooking.
Full Ingredients List
CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WHITE GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE, CONCENTRATED ORANGE JAKE, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM POLYPHOSPHATES (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), NATURAL FLAVOR, GUM ARABIC, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), CAFFEINE, SODIUM CITRATE, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, SUCROSE, ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE, SUCRALOSE, GLYCEROL ESTER OF ROSIN, SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), NIACINAMIDE (VITAMIN B3), CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE (VITAMIN B5), YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6)
Compare beyond brand
Nationwide peers by additive safety & ingredient depth
Two PlainIngredients-derived comparison paths for Kickstart Orange Citrus: nearest mean mapped additive safety score and nearest mapped ingredient count among indexable products with at least 3 scored additives, excluding same-brand siblings. Scores describe regulatory and research signals on additives, not dietary advice.
Similar mean additive safety
Nearest products by average mapped safety score. This record: 4.2/5.
Similar mapped ingredient depth
Nearest products by count of scored mapped additives. This record: 11.
Product Details
- Brand
- Mountain Dew
- Barcode
- 0012000183317
- NOVA Group
- 4 — Ultra-processed foods
- Available In
- United States
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Frequently asked questions
Where does Kickstart Orange Citrus rank on ingredient safety?
Among the 58,710 PlainIngredients products with a scored ingredient list, Kickstart Orange Citrus's 4.2/5 average puts it in the safer 60%, in line with the 4.12/5 average across all scored products.
What does a 4.2/5 ingredient safety score mean?
PlainIngredients scores each ingredient 1 (highest risk) to 5 (safest) from FDA and EU regulatory status, then averages the scores of every ingredient this product lists that we could map. A 4.2/5 average places Kickstart Orange Citrus in the Low Risk tier.
Every figure on PlainIngredients is rendered directly from FDA, EU, EFSA and U.S. state regulatory records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.