Crumbl Strawberry Shortcake Cookie
Analysis updated September 2026 · How Scout scores
At a glance
Summary
Crumbl Strawberry Shortcake scores 1/100. A bakery cookie built like a mass-market snack cake: bleached enriched flour, canola oil, and sugar from at least four sources (powdered sugar, sugar, the pudding mix, the strawberry gelatin). The pink color and strawberry flavor come from Red 40, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 plus artificial flavors carried in propylene glycol, not from strawberries. The pudding and gelatin mixes add acesulfame potassium, sodium phosphates, modified food starch and mono- and diglycerides; the whipped cream adds carrageenan and polysorbate 80; the baking powder adds sodium aluminum sulfate. The real butter, cream, cream cheese and egg cannot offset that additive load. In 2023 the U.S. Department of Labor cited Crumbl franchisees in six states for child labor violations.
Key ingredients 19
Canola OilVery Bad
Inflammatory seed oil high in omega-6. Heavily processed and refined. Used alongside the butter.
See more about Canola Oil →Red 40 & Red 40 LakeVery Bad
Synthetic petroleum-derived azo dyes that give the cookie its pink color. Linked to hyperactivity in children; requires a warning label in the EU.
See more about Red 40 & Red 40 Lake →Yellow 5 & Yellow 6Very Bad
Synthetic azo dyes in the pudding mix. Both carry EU hyperactivity warning labels; Yellow 5 is a documented allergen.
See more about Yellow 5 & Yellow 6 →Sugar (Multiple Sources)Bad
Refined added sugar, four times over: powdered sugar, sugar, the pudding mix and the strawberry gelatin.
See more about Sugar (Multiple Sources) →Bleached Wheat FlourBad
Refined grain flour stripped of bran and germ, then chemically bleached. The first ingredient.
See more about Bleached Wheat Flour →Acesulfame PotassiumBad
Synthetic non-nutritive sweetener in the strawberry gelatin, stacked on top of four sugar sources.
See more about Acesulfame Potassium →Propylene GlycolBad
Synthetic solvent used to carry the artificial strawberry flavoring.
See more about Propylene Glycol →Artificial FlavorsBad
Synthetic flavoring compounds, listed three times (pudding mix, gelatin, flavoring). The strawberry taste is not from strawberries.
See more about Artificial Flavors →Polysorbate 80Bad
Synthetic emulsifier in the whipped cream. Emulsifiers of this class disrupt the gut microbiome in animal studies.
See more about Polysorbate 80 →CarrageenanBad
Seaweed-derived thickener in the whipped cream, linked to intestinal inflammation in animal studies.
See more about Carrageenan →Mono and DiglyceridesBad
Industrial emulsifier that can carry trans fats. Appears twice (whipped cream, pudding mix).
See more about Mono and Diglycerides →Modified Food StarchBad
Chemically modified starch additive in the pudding mix.
See more about Modified Food Starch →Sodium PhosphatesBad
Phosphate additives in the pudding mix. Excess added phosphorus is linked to cardiovascular and kidney strain.
See more about Sodium Phosphates →Sodium Aluminum SulfateBad
Aluminum-based leavening acid in the baking powder. Aluminum-free baking powders are the standard alternative.
See more about Sodium Aluminum Sulfate →DextroseBad
Refined added sugar, in both the pudding mix and the gelatin.
See more about Dextrose →Cream CheeseNeutral
Real cultured dairy, stabilized with guar, carob bean and xanthan gums.
See more about Cream Cheese →ButterGood
Real butter (pasteurized cream, salt). The traditional fat, though canola oil is used alongside it.
See more about Butter →Heavy CreamGood
Traditional whole-fat dairy ingredient, here carrying carrageenan, mono- and diglycerides and polysorbate 80 as stabilizers.
See more about Heavy Cream →EggVery Good
Whole egg. Protein, choline and B vitamins; a clean binding ingredient.
See more about Egg →Processing
Ultra-Processed Foods
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