Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0016000437128 · Hamburger Helper · Meals. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix by Hamburger Helper scores 75/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 48 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 48-component record, beginning with Enriched Pasta, Wheat Flour, Niacin. 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.
- 75/100
- Caution safety score
- 1
- One flagged · of 48 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
50/100
Grade C-
Ingredient Safety
75/100
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.
00437128 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix label screening desk
17 of 48 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Red 40). Source sheet 00437128 · 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: Frosting, Raspberry Sherbet · Nearest score peer is Frosting, Raspberry Sherbet 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 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.
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 15,626 products we've scored in the Meals category, the average safety score is 93.6/100. Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix scores 18.6 points below that category average (75/100 vs. 93.6/100), 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 Meals products
Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix lists 48 ingredients on its label
48 82nd percentile a longer ingredient list than 82% of the 11,283 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
- 12 products (0%)
- 2–4
- 83 products (1%)
- 4–6
- 127 products (1%)
- 6–8
- 209 products (2%)
- 8–10
- 312 products (3%)
- 10–12
- 315 products (3%)
- 12–14
- 412 products (4%)
- 14–16
- 477 products (4%)
- 16–18
- 542 products (5%)
- 18–20
- 552 products (5%)
- 20–22
- 545 products (5%)
- 22–24
- 550 products (5%)
- 24–26
- 552 products (5%)
- 26–28
- 552 products (5%)
- 28–30
- 574 products (5%)
- 30–32
- 517 products (5%)
- 32–34
- 466 products (4%)
- 34–36
- 451 products (4%)
- 36–38
- 443 products (4%)
- 38–40
- 388 products (3%)
- 40 and above
- 3,204 products (28%)
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 11,283 Meals 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 75/100 score is built
Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 48 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.
Full Ingredient List
Enriched Pasta (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Tomato Paste, Water, Tomatoes, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Tomato*, Modified Whey, Ricotta Cheese* (Whey, Milkfat, Lactic Acid, Salt), Modified Tapioca Starch, Spice, Citric Acid, Basil, Cheddar Cheese* (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Flavor, Whey, Color (Artificial Color, Yellow Lakes 5 & 6, Yellows 5 & 6, Red 40 Lake), Oregano, Monoglycerides, Onion*, Yeast Extract, Garlic, Sodium Alginate, Parmesan Cheese* (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Xanthan Gum, Onion, Garlic*, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Malic Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking Agent).
Other products containing Yellow Lakes 5 & 6
Yellow Lakes 5 & 6 is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 37 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Hamburger Helper
Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix
Neighbours outside Hamburger Helper near Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix's mid-band score (75/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Hamburger Helper; these peers cross brands.
Same mid-band screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (1 flagged of 48 on 0016000437128).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (48 on 0016000437128).
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Red 40 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 48-ingredient record.
- Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Red 40. Open Red 40
- Compare Hamburger Helper, Ultimate Three Cheese Marinara Pasta & Sauce Mix's 1 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 0016000437128: 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.