Snack cakes
Scores 95/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.
The verdict
Snack cakes by Little Debbie scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 36 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 36-component record, beginning with Sugar, Corn Syrup, Water. 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.
- 95/100
- Safe safety score
- 1
- flagged ingredient of 36 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 Snack cakes
Snack cakes by Little Debbie carries a composite safety score of 95/100, which we classify as "Safe" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 36 ingredients parsed from this label, 14 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 80, Sorbic Acid and 11 others), with 11 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 9 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, Snack cakes 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
Within the four-tier shelf-label framework this site publishes, the composite for this product falls in the highest band. That band is defined by a threshold on the derived score alone: it is where labels land once components carrying caution-or-worse registry ratings contribute little or nothing to the deduction. The band is a summary of what the screened registries return for the components that were parsed, so it inherits their coverage gaps — a component absent from both registries neither raises nor lowers the figure. The threshold and the weighting behind it are set out 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.
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.
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 | E | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 88,006 products we've scored in the Snacks category, the average safety score is 86.1/100. Snack cakes scores 8.9 points above that category average (95/100 vs. 86.1/100), so it is a comparatively strong pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.
Ingredient-list length vs other Snacks products
Snack cakes lists 36 ingredients on its label
36 87th percentile a longer ingredient list than 87% of the 81,477 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
- 272 products (0%)
- 2–4
- 2,904 products (4%)
- 4–6
- 4,228 products (5%)
- 6–8
- 5,399 products (7%)
- 8–10
- 5,484 products (7%)
- 10–12
- 5,797 products (7%)
- 12–14
- 6,263 products (8%)
- 14–16
- 6,708 products (8%)
- 16–18
- 6,234 products (8%)
- 18–20
- 5,191 products (6%)
- 20–22
- 4,484 products (6%)
- 22–24
- 3,818 products (5%)
- 24–26
- 3,579 products (4%)
- 26–28
- 2,824 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 2,271 products (3%)
- 30–32
- 1,916 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 1,736 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 1,564 products (2%)
- 36–38
- 1,434 products (2%)
- 38–40
- 1,291 products (2%)
- 40 and above
- 8,080 products (10%)
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 81,477 Snacks 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
Sugar, corn syrup, water, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin b1], riboflavin [vitamin b2], folic acid), palm and palm kernel oil, palm and soybean oils with tbhq and citric acid to protect flavor, soybean oil, cocoa, dextrose. contains 2% or less of each of the following: soy flour, cocoa (processed with alkali), egg whites, eggs, baking soda, salt, mono - and diglycerides, whey (milk), corn starch, soy lecithin, sorbic acid (to preserve freshness), sorbitan monostearate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, propylene glycol monostearate, natural and artificial flavors, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 80, potato starch.
Other products containing Palm And Soybean Oils With Tbhq And Citric Acid To Protect Flavor
Palm And Soybean Oils With Tbhq And Citric Acid To Protect Flavor is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 168 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.
