Concern

Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored

by R. L. Zeigler Company Inc.

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0009400009910 · R. L. Zeigler Company Inc. · Meats and their products. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0009400009910 · Serving size 1 LINK (76 g)

The verdict

Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored by R. L. Zeigler Company Inc. scores 60/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 20 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 20-component label is layered, beginning with Mechanically Separated Chicken Pork, Water, Bacon Cured With. Start with any flagged rows, then check the nutrition grade and serving size instead of treating one roll-up score as the whole decision. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.

60/100
Concern safety score
2
Few flagged · of 20 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
E
Nutri-Score nutrition grade

Computed directly from OpenFoodFacts ingredient data cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. See our methodology for the scoring formula.

Composite profile score

One verdict from three independent sources

38/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

60/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

E

Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition grade

Weighted 50% ingredient safety / 25% processing level / 25% nutrition grade. A dimension with no data for this product (common: source coverage is partial) is dropped and its weight redistributes across the remaining dimensions, so missing data never silently lowers the score. See the full benchmark table.

00009910 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored label screening desk

SCORE-CONC 60/100 FLAG-FEW 2 flagged LEN-LAYERED 20 ing. REG-PART 50% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 16% LEAD-FLAG Sodium Nitrate PHOTO-FINISH Peppermint Bits · ±0 BOOK-OFF …009910 · July 2026

10 of 20 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Nitrate). Source sheet 00009910 · Open Food Facts · July 2026. The screening score and flag counts are in the verdict band above. This desk is the provenance stamp, not a second scorecard. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: Peppermint Bits · Nearest score peer is Peppermint Bits at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record

This label lands in the third of four positions on the published scale. What separates that position from its neighbours is arithmetic rather than judgement: identical inputs run through the documented weighting always arrive at the same place. Anyone who works the calculation through by hand, using the methodology write-up together with the itemised ratings further down, will reproduce this number exactly — which is the reason for publishing a computed figure instead of an opinion.

Nutri-Score assigned its lowest band to this label. The algorithm reserves that grade for nutrition panels where the values it penalises sit well above the components it credits. The two systems on this page measure genuinely different things: a product can hold this grade while carrying no additive flagged by the registries screened below, and a product graded well can carry several. Neither reading substitutes for the other, and the per-component table is where the additive picture is set out.

A mid-length component list was parsed from this label. There are enough separate entries for the screen to match several independently, while each matched entry still carries visible weight in the resulting index. Lists of this size are the most common shape in the catalogue, which makes the composite here easier to place against comparable products than at either extreme.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Red Hots Imitation Sausag…60/1002. Peppermint Bits: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Peppermint Bits60/1003. Gilliam Candy Company, Stick Candy, Tutti Fruti: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Gilliam Candy Company, St…60/1004. Licorice Jelly Belly Tub: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Licorice Jelly Belly Tub60/1005. Dierbergs, apple rings candy: 60/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Dierbergs, apple rings ca…60/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored (60/100 on 20 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

Unit: PlainFoodSafe screening score out of 100. Data current as of July 2026.

Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored
60/100
Peppermint Bits
60/100
Gilliam Candy Company, Stick Candy, Tutti Fruti
60/100
Licorice Jelly Belly Tub
60/100
Dierbergs, apple rings candy
60/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 13,350 products we've scored in the Meats and their products category, the average safety score is 92.4/100. Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored scores 32.4 points below that category average (60/100 vs. 92.4/100), so it is a comparatively weaker pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Meats and their products products

Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored lists 20 ingredients on its label

20 84th percentile a longer ingredient list than 84% of the 11,159 products we track

0–2: 79 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 430 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 612 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 1,397 products (13%). Below this entry. 8–10: 1,485 products (13%). Below this entry. 10–12: 1,698 products (15%). Below this entry. 12–14: 1,463 products (13%). Below this entry. 14–16: 996 products (9%). Below this entry. 16–18: 734 products (7%). Below this entry. 18–20: 489 products (4%). Below this entry. 20–22: 377 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. 22–24: 277 products (2%). Above this entry. 24–26: 234 products (2%). Above this entry. 26–28: 140 products (1%). Above this entry. 28–30: 145 products (1%). Above this entry. 30–32: 92 products (1%). Above this entry. 32–34: 83 products (1%). Above this entry. 34–36: 66 products (1%). Above this entry. 36–38: 74 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 50 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 238 products (2%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Meats and their products product, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more products. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Distribution as text

11,159 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 20 (84th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
79 products (1%)
2–4
430 products (4%)
4–6
612 products (5%)
6–8
1,397 products (13%)
8–10
1,485 products (13%)
10–12
1,698 products (15%)
12–14
1,463 products (13%)
14–16
996 products (9%)
16–18
734 products (7%)
18–20
489 products (4%)
20–22
377 products (3%)
22–24
277 products (2%)
24–26
234 products (2%)
26–28
140 products (1%)
28–30
145 products (1%)
30–32
92 products (1%)
32–34
83 products (1%)
34–36
66 products (1%)
36–38
74 products (1%)
38–40
50 products (0%)
40 and above
238 products (2%)

Source Open Food Facts, product label ingredient lists · July 2026

Ingredient-list length is a descriptive property of the label, not a safety rating. A longer list is not automatically worse and a shorter one is not automatically better; the count is shown so the label can be placed against a comparable population. The comparison here runs against the 11,159 Meats and their products products we publish with a parsed label, not against the whole catalogue, because list length varies far more between categories than within one.

Ingredient Safety Analysis

How the 60/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (2 flagged of 20 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Mechanically Separated Chicken Pork
2
Water
3
Bacon Cured With
4
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
5
Sodium Phosphate
6
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
7
Sodium Erythorbate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT
Safe GRAS
8
Hydrolyzed Soy And Corn Protein
9
Msg
10
Sodium Nitrate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PROPELLANT
Avoid Prior Sanctioned
11
Wheat Flour
12
Modified Food Starch
13
Corn Syrup
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, TEXTURIZER
Cut Back GRAS
14
Flavoring
15
Sodium Lactate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, WASHING OR SURFACE REMOVAL AGENT
GRAS
16
Beef
17
Dextrose
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Cut Back GRAS
18
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, LEAVENING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
GRAS
19
Sodium Diacetate
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
Safe GRAS
20
Red 3
Avoid FDA food listing remains in effect until Jan 15, 2027; revocation scheduled

Full Ingredient List

Mechanically separated chicken pork, water, bacon cured with; water, salt, sodium phosphate, sugar, sodium erythorbate, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrate). wheat flour, modified food starch, corn syrup, salt, flavoring, sodium lactate, beef, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrate, red 3.

Other products containing Mechanically Separated Chicken Pork

Mechanically Separated Chicken Pork is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 6 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

Meats and their products Meats Prepared meats Sausages

More from R. L. Zeigler Company Inc.

Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored

Neighbours outside R. L. Zeigler Company Inc. near Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored's mid-band score (60/100). The 1 same-brand link above stay within R. L. Zeigler Company Inc.; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Sodium Nitrate is the first flagged ingredient selected from Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 20-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Sodium Nitrate. Open Sodium Nitrate
  • Compare Red Hots Imitation Sausage-Artificially Colored's 2 flagged ingredients with a product from the same score neighbourhood. Compare labels
  • Check how caution flags contribute to the derived screening score before drawing a dietary conclusion. Read the method

This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.

Barcode 0009400009910: product data from Open Food Facts (July 2026). Screening from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine where attached. Figures are computed from those sources, not editor-typed. Methodology. Reference only, not dietary or medical advice.