Puffed Cheese Curls
by Kroger
Scores 75/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.
The verdict
Puffed Cheese Curls by Kroger scores 75/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 30 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The 30-component label is layered, beginning with Corn Meal, Vegetable Oil, Corn. 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.
- 75/100
- Caution safety score
- 1
- flagged ingredient of 30 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.
What the Data Says About Puffed Cheese Curls
Puffed Cheese Curls by Kroger carries a composite safety score of 75/100, which we classify as "Caution" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 30 ingredients parsed from this label, 8 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Autolyzed yeast extract, Annatto, Yellow 6 and 5 others), with 5 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 7 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 22 ingredients appear in neither registry, so they neither raise nor lower the score. Each additive rated caution-or-worse penalizes the composite. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This score is a transparent derived index we compute from that public data, not an official FDA rating or endorsement; see the Methodology page for the exact weighting.
Our scan identified 1 flagged ingredient in this product, components that at least one official source has classified as requiring caution, targeted avoidance, or further evaluation. Flagged ingredients are the items most likely to surface in FDA inspection findings, state-level ingredient bans, or outbreak-related recall notices, so the per-ingredient breakdown below is the most useful lens for anyone screening this product for a specific dietary concern.
On the NOVA processing scale, Puffed Cheese Curls is classified as Group 4 (Ultra-processed). NOVA measures industrial processing intensity rather than ingredient-level safety, so it complements the SAFFA and CSPI ratings: a product can be clean on additive flags but heavily processed, or lightly processed but carry individually flagged ingredients. Combining both lenses gives a fuller picture than either alone.
How the three scores on this page were derived
The composite for this product falls in the second band of the four-tier framework. That band collects labels whose registry-rated components pull the derived score down measurably without dominating it. Position inside a band is not visible from the band name, and two labels sharing it can differ in how many components were rated and how severely. This is a threshold on an index computed here from public data, not a regulatory classification of any kind; the exact cut-offs are published on the methodology page.
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.
This label parsed into a long component list. Where many entries are screened at once, the composite tends to reflect the overall mix of registry ratings returned rather than the rating of any one entry. Longer declarations also carry more sub-listed and compound entries, where a parenthetical group is resolved into its parts, so the parsed count can exceed what a reader counts on the packaging.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 75/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 1 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | E | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 1,202 products we've scored in the Null category, the average safety score is 95.1/100. Puffed Cheese Curls scores 20.1 points below that category average (75/100 vs. 95.1/100), 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 Null products
Puffed Cheese Curls lists 30 ingredients on its label
30 96th percentile a longer ingredient list than 96% of the 1,052 products we track
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
- 0–2
- 33 products (3%)
- 2–4
- 56 products (5%)
- 4–6
- 51 products (5%)
- 6–8
- 73 products (7%)
- 8–10
- 53 products (5%)
- 10–12
- 113 products (11%)
- 12–14
- 95 products (9%)
- 14–16
- 129 products (12%)
- 16–18
- 192 products (18%)
- 18–20
- 120 products (11%)
- 20–22
- 48 products (5%)
- 22–24
- 12 products (1%)
- 24–26
- 13 products (1%)
- 26–28
- 7 products (1%)
- 28–30
- 10 products (1%)
- 30–32
- 4 products (0%)
- 32–34
- 11 products (1%)
- 34–36
- 5 products (0%)
- 36–38
- 2 products (0%)
- 38–40
- 2 products (0%)
- 40 and above
- 23 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 1,052 Null 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
Full Ingredient List
CORN MEAL, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, SOYBEAN, CANOLA AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL), WHEY, REDUCED LACTOSE WHEY, SALT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, CHEDDAR CHEESE (MILK, CHEESE CULTURE,SALT, ENZYMES), SOUR CREAM (CULTURED CREAM, NONFAT MILK), BLUE CHEESE (MILK CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (YELLOW 5 AND 6, YELLOW 6 LAKE), ANNATTO (FOR COLOR), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, LACTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID.
Other products containing Milk Cheese Cultures
Milk Cheese Cultures is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 23 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
Data Sources
Data as of July 2026. Source: OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine.
Product data from OpenFoodFacts (ODbL). Ingredient safety ratings from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine. See our methodology for details.
This information is for reference only and does not constitute dietary or medical advice.
Related
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Product figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, and CSPI Chemical Cuisine data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.
