Mac & cheese
by Kraft
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0021000071791 · Kraft · Frozen foods. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Mac & cheese by Kraft scores 80/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 41 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 41-component record, beginning with Cooked Enriched Macaroni Product, Water, Enriched Semolina. 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.
- 80/100
- Caution safety score
- 2
- Few flagged · of 41 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- C
- 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
58/100
Grade C
Ingredient Safety
80/100
FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening
Processing Level
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
Nutrition Grade
C
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.
00071791 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Mac & cheese label screening desk
15 of 41 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Nitrite). Source sheet 00071791 · 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: Beef Enchiladas Smothered In Chili Sauce And Cheese With Mexican Style Rice And Authentic Refried Beans - Includes Cocada (Coconut Flavored) Pudding, Mexican Style Fiesta · Nearest score peer is Beef Enchiladas Smothered In Chili Sauce And Cheese With Mexican Style Rice And Authentic Refried Beans - Includes Cocada (Coconut Flavored) Pudding, Mexican Style Fiesta 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.
Nutri-Score settled on its middle grade here, the band the algorithm produces when the penalty and credit sides of its nutrient ledger come out close to balanced. A mid-scale grade is a statement about the panel as a whole rather than about any single nutrient, and products arrive at it by very different routes: a moderate profile across every term, or high marks on some offset by heavy penalties on others. The grade is computed separately from the ingredient screen below and the two are not comparable measures.
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 24,982 products we've scored in the Frozen foods category, the average safety score is 92.9/100. Mac & cheese scores 12.9 points below that category average (80/100 vs. 92.9/100), 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 Frozen foods products
Mac & cheese lists 41 ingredients on its label
41 62nd percentile a longer ingredient list than 62% of the 7,008 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
- 11 products (0%)
- 2–4
- 54 products (1%)
- 4–6
- 54 products (1%)
- 6–8
- 66 products (1%)
- 8–10
- 102 products (1%)
- 10–12
- 112 products (2%)
- 12–14
- 184 products (3%)
- 14–16
- 205 products (3%)
- 16–18
- 245 products (3%)
- 18–20
- 284 products (4%)
- 20–22
- 264 products (4%)
- 22–24
- 298 products (4%)
- 24–26
- 247 products (4%)
- 26–28
- 271 products (4%)
- 28–30
- 284 products (4%)
- 30–32
- 294 products (4%)
- 32–34
- 325 products (5%)
- 34–36
- 319 products (5%)
- 36–38
- 314 products (4%)
- 38–40
- 283 products (4%)
- 40 and above
- 2,792 products (40%)
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 7,008 Frozen foods 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 80/100 score is built
Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (2 flagged of 41 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.
Full Ingredient List
Cooked enriched macaroni product (water, enriched semolina [durum wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], carrageenan), sauce (water, pasteurized process white cheddar cheese [cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), water, sodium phosphate, milkfat, salt], half and half [milk, cream], nonfat milk, whey protein concentrate, modified food starch, parmesan cheese [cultured part-skim milk, salt, enzymes], cheese flavor blend [cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), water, sodium phosphate, enzymes], salt, sodium phosphates, mustard flour, xanthan gum, spice), fully cooked applewood smoked bacon pieces (bacon [cured with water, salt, sugar, sodium nitrite], applewood smoke flavor. may contain sodium phosphate, smoke flavor, sodium erythorbate, sodium ascorbate, dextrose).
Other products containing Cheese Flavor Blend
Cheese Flavor Blend is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 13 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Kraft
High-score cross-brand comparables for Mac & cheese
Neighbours outside Kraft with screening scores in the same high band as Mac & cheese (80/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Kraft; these peers cross brands.
Same high-band screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (2 flagged of 41 on 0021000071791).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (41 on 0021000071791).
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Sodium Nitrite is the first flagged ingredient selected from Mac & cheese's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 41-ingredient record.
- Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Sodium Nitrite. Open Sodium Nitrite
- Compare Mac & cheese'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 0021000071791: 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.