Queso macaroni & cheese
Contains 1 flagged ingredient
Queso macaroni & cheese receives a safety score of 95/100 based on ingredient analysis using FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) data and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. The product contains 1 ingredient that have been flagged for potential safety concerns by regulatory or consumer advocacy databases. Product label data is sourced from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative database. See the full ingredient breakdown and safety assessment below.
What the Data Says About
Queso macaroni & cheese carries a composite safety score of 95/100, which we classify as "Safe" on our four-tier shelf-label framework. The score is computed by mapping each labeled ingredient against FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) regulatory status and CSPI Chemical Cuisine classifications, then penalizing the overall product for each additive rated as caution-or-worse. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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, Queso macaroni & cheese 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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 95/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 1 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | Not available | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
Full Ingredient List
Cooked macaroni (semolina wheat flour [enriched with niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], egg white), water, tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, calcium chloride, citric acid), pasteurized process cheese spread (american cheese [milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], water, whey, sodium phosphate, whey protein concentrate, skim milk, salt, milkfat, artificial color), whole milk, cream cheese (pasteurized milk and cream, salt, carob bean gum, cheese culture), green chiles (green chile peppers, water, citric acid, salt, calcium chloride), sour cream (cream, milk, nonfat dry milk, modified food starch, sodium phosphate, guar gum, carrageenan, calcium sulfate, locust bean gum, culture), onion, cheddar cheese flavor (cheddar cheese and blue cheese [{pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes}, whey, water, salt], yeast extract, maltodextrin [from corn], corn oil, salt, sweet cream solids, butter [cream, natural flavoring], sugar, flavoring), modified corn starch, jalapeno pepper (jalapeno peppers, salt, acetic acid, calcium chloride), salt, seasoning (salt, hydrolyzed corn gluten, potassium sorbate [to protect freshness], dehydrated cilantro, xanthan gum, yeast extract, spice extractives, lactic acid, cellulose gum), margarine (liquid and hydrogenated soybean oil, water, salt, contains less than 2% of vegetable mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin a palmitate added), sodium benzoate (preservative), annatto color, flavoring (yeast extract, salt), potassium sorbate (preservative).
Data Sources
Data as of 2025. 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.
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