Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot
by Cheetos
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0015300200234 · Cheetos · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot by Cheetos scores 20/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 38 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 4 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 38-component record, beginning with Wheat Flour, Whey, Salt. That density can include amounts and label fragments, so verify the physical label before relying on ingredient order or completeness. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.
- 20/100
- Avoid safety score
- 4
- Many flagged · of 38 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- D
- 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
23/100
Grade F
Ingredient Safety
20/100
FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening
Processing Level
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
Nutrition Grade
D
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.
00200234 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot label screening desk
18 of 38 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Yellow 6). Source sheet 00200234 · 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: lindys · Nearest score peer is lindys at the same screening score.
Screening model notes
How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record
The composite for this product falls in the lowest of the four bands. That is where labels land when registry-rated components drive the greater part of the deduction from the index. The band name is drawn from the framework's own scale and is distinct from the ratings the registries themselves assign to individual substances, which are shown per component below. A single heavily rated component and several lightly rated ones can produce the same band, so the component table is the more precise reading of the two.
This label falls in the fourth Nutri-Score band. The model arrives there when its penalty terms — energy density, sugars, saturated fat, sodium — carry more weight in the calculation than the fibre, protein and produce content it credits. The band covers a wide span of the points scale, so position within it is not visible from the letter alone. The grade reflects the declared nutrition panel and is unrelated to the additive ratings listed below, which come from different bodies applying different criteria.
The declared list is among the longer ones in this catalogue. A component set this wide means the screen returns many individual ratings, and the composite accumulates a large number of small contributions instead of turning on a handful of entries. At this length the per-component table below is substantially more informative than the single figure, because the figure compresses a great deal of variation into one number.
Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 78,450 products we've scored in the Plant-based foods and beverages category, the average safety score is 97.7/100. Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot scores 77.7 points below that category average (20/100 vs. 97.7/100), 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 Plant-based foods and beverages products
Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot lists 38 ingredients on its label
38 97th percentile a longer ingredient list than 97% of the 63,434 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
- 3,907 products (6%)
- 2–4
- 7,921 products (12%)
- 4–6
- 8,845 products (14%)
- 6–8
- 7,032 products (11%)
- 8–10
- 6,320 products (10%)
- 10–12
- 4,190 products (7%)
- 12–14
- 3,449 products (5%)
- 14–16
- 3,051 products (5%)
- 16–18
- 2,493 products (4%)
- 18–20
- 2,053 products (3%)
- 20–22
- 1,808 products (3%)
- 22–24
- 1,758 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 1,623 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 1,606 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 1,360 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 1,198 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 1,081 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 901 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 649 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 534 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 1,655 products (3%)
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 63,434 Plant-based foods and beverages 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 20/100 score is built
Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (4 flagged of 38 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.
Full Ingredient List
Wheat flour, whey, salt, cheddar and romano cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), sunflower oil, corn maltodextrin, modified corn starch, natural and artificial flavor, sugar, citric acid, corn syrup solids, monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, buttermilk, onion powder, whey protein concentrate, corn oil, disodium phosphate, red 40 lake, yellow 6, caramel color, yellow 5, lactose, garlic powder, hydrolyzed soy protein, sodium diacetate, guar gum, xanthan gum, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, niacinamide, iron sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid.
Other products containing Iron Sulfate
Iron Sulfate is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 4 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Cheetos
Lower-score cross-brand comparables for Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot
Neighbours outside Cheetos in the same lower screening band as Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot (20/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Cheetos; these peers cross brands.
Nearest screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (4 flagged of 38 on 0015300200234).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (38 on 0015300200234).
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Yellow 6 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 38-ingredient record.
- Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Yellow 6. Open Yellow 6
- Compare Cheetos Mac 'N Cheese Flamin' Hot's 4 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 0015300200234: 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.