Safe

Fancy cakes

by Little Debbie

Scores 95/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.

Barcode 0024300041600 · Serving size 2 cakes (71 g)

The verdict

Fancy cakes by Little Debbie scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 34 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 34-component record, beginning with Sugar, Corn Syrup, Enriched Bleached Flour. 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 34 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.

00041600 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Fancy cakes label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-DENSE 34 ing. REG-PART 38% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 15% LEAD-FLAG Polysorbate 80 PHOTO-FINISH Fudge Dipped Chocolate · ±0 BOOK-OFF …041600 · July 2026

Fancy cakes holds 95/100 with 1 flagged of 34 parsed ingredients (3% of the list). 13 of 34 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Polysorbate 80). See methodology for how the shelf-label bands are computed. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: Fudge Dipped Chocolate Chip Granola Bars · Nearest score peer is Fudge Dipped Chocolate Chip Granola Bars at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record

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.

This label parsed into a long component list. Where many entries are screened at once, the composite tends to reflect the overall mix of registry ratings returned rather than the rating of any one entry. Longer declarations also carry more sub-listed and compound entries, where a parenthetical group is resolved into its parts, so the parsed count can exceed what a reader counts on the packaging.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Fancy cakes: 95/1001. Fancy cakes95/1002. Fudge Dipped Chocolate Chip Granola Bars: 95/1002. Fudge Dipped Chocolate Ch…95/1003. Oats & honey chewy granola bars: 95/1003. Oats & honey chewy granol…95/1004. Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars: 95/1004. Chocolate Chip Chewy Gran…95/1005. Peanut Sweet and Salty: 95/1005. Peanut Sweet and Salty95/100
High-band neighbours for Fancy cakes (95/100) outside Little Debbie.
Chart values as text

Unit: PlainFoodSafe screening score out of 100. Data current as of July 2026.

Fancy cakes
95/100
Fudge Dipped Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
95/100
Oats & honey chewy granola bars
95/100
Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars
95/100
Peanut Sweet and Salty
95/100

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. Fancy 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

Fancy cakes lists 34 ingredients on its label

34 85th percentile a longer ingredient list than 85% of the 81,477 products we track

0–2: 275 products (0%). Below this entry. 2–4: 2,901 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 4,248 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 5,408 products (7%). Below this entry. 8–10: 5,486 products (7%). Below this entry. 10–12: 5,840 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 6,252 products (8%). Below this entry. 14–16: 6,724 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 6,221 products (8%). Below this entry. 18–20: 5,168 products (6%). Below this entry. 20–22: 4,508 products (6%). Below this entry. 22–24: 3,809 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 3,567 products (4%). Below this entry. 26–28: 2,829 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 2,282 products (3%). Below this entry. 30–32: 1,905 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 1,715 products (2%). Below this entry. 34–36: 1,572 products (2%). This entry sits in this band. 36–38: 1,417 products (2%). Above this entry. 38–40: 1,284 products (2%). Above this entry. 40–42: 8,066 products (10%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Snacks product, bucketed by value

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

81,477 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 34 (85th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
275 products (0%)
2–4
2,901 products (4%)
4–6
4,248 products (5%)
6–8
5,408 products (7%)
8–10
5,486 products (7%)
10–12
5,840 products (7%)
12–14
6,252 products (8%)
14–16
6,724 products (8%)
16–18
6,221 products (8%)
18–20
5,168 products (6%)
20–22
4,508 products (6%)
22–24
3,809 products (5%)
24–26
3,567 products (4%)
26–28
2,829 products (3%)
28–30
2,282 products (3%)
30–32
1,905 products (2%)
32–34
1,715 products (2%)
34–36
1,572 products (2%)
36–38
1,417 products (2%)
38–40
1,284 products (2%)
40 and above
8,066 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

1
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
2
Corn Syrup
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, TEXTURIZER
Cut Back GRAS
3
Enriched Bleached Flour
4
Wheat Flour
5
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
6
Reduced Iron
7
Thiamin Mononitrate
8
Vitamin B1
9
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
10
Vitamin B2
11
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
12
Water
13
Palm And Palm Kernel Oil
14
Palm And Soybean Oils With Tbhq And Citric Acid To Protect Flavor
15
Dextrose
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Cut Back GRAS
16
Soy Flour
17
Soybean Oil
18
Egg Whites
19
Whey
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FORMULATION AID, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
20
Milk
21
Leavening
22
Baking Soda
23
Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
24
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
25
Mono - And Diglycerides
26
Sorbitan Monostearate
EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT
Safe Approved
27
Soy Lecithin
28
Corn Starch
29
Sorbic Acid
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
Safe GRAS
30
Artificial Color
31
Polysorbate 60
BOILER WATER ADDITIVE, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Caution Approved
32
Natural And Artificial Flavors
33
Polysorbate 80
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Caution Approved
34
Potato Starch
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS

Full Ingredient List

Sugar, corn syrup, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin b1], riboflavin [vitamin b2], folic acid), water, palm and palm kernel oil, palm and soybean oils with tbhq and citric acid to protect flavor, dextrose. contains 2% or less of each of the following: soy flour, soybean oil, egg whites, whey (milk), leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate), salt, mono - and diglycerides, sorbitan monostearate, soy lecithin, corn starch, sorbic acid (to preserve freshness), artificial color, polysorbate 60, natural and artificial flavors, polysorbate 80, potato starch.

Categories

Snacks Sweet snacks Biscuits and cakes Cakes

High-score cross-brand comparables for Fancy cakes

Neighbours outside Little Debbie with screening scores in the same high band as Fancy cakes (95/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Little Debbie; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Polysorbate 80 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Fancy cakes's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 34-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Polysorbate 80. Open Polysorbate 80
  • Compare Fancy cakes'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 0024300041600: 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.