Kickstart Orange Citrus
Beverages and beverages preparations / Beverages / Energy drinks
Product Insight: Kickstart Orange Citrus
Kickstart Orange Citrus by Mountain Dew is tracked in PlainIngredients with 11 identified ingredients and carries an overall safety rating of 4.2 out of 5 — a Low-Risk-to-Safe tier backed by FDA and EU regulatory status. On the NOVA processing scale, this product falls into Group 4 (Ultra-processed foods), a standard framework for classifying how heavily food has been industrially modified before reaching the shelf, and no Nutri-Score label has been assigned by Open Food Facts contributors. Within the identified ingredient list, no ingredient on this product currently carries a Caution or High-Risk flag in our database, while 10 ingredients sit at the Low-Risk or Safe end of the scale.
Our composite score weighs each ingredient's U.S. FDA regulatory status (GRAS, Approved, or Banned), European Union food-additive status under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, any U.S. state-level restrictions, and signals drawn from peer-reviewed toxicology literature. The per-product score is the mean of the per-ingredient ratings and should be read as a structured summary rather than a clinical verdict; edge cases such as cumulative exposure, individual allergies, and dietary interactions are not captured by a single number and are better addressed by reading the individual ingredient pages linked below.
Sources: Open Food Facts (product + ingredient list, CC0 licensed) · FDA SAFFA · EU Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 · U.S. state food-safety statutes
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)
Data Sources
- Open Food Facts — Product data and ingredient lists
- FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) Inventory — Safety scores
- EU Food Additive Regulations (EC) No 1333/2008
Product Details
- Brand
- Mountain Dew
- Barcode
- 0012000183317
- NOVA Group
- 4 — Ultra-processed foods
- Available In
- United States
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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.