Spicy Queso
by Tostitos
Scores 100/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with no flagged ingredients identified.
The verdict
Spicy Queso by Tostitos scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 20 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 0 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 20-component label is layered, beginning with Water, Monterey Jack Cheese, Vegetable Oil. Start with any flagged rows, then check the nutrition grade and serving size instead of treating one roll-up score as the whole decision. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.
- 100/100
- Safe safety score
- 0
- flagged ingredients of 20 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- 0028400724685
- Barcode (UPC/EAN)
Computed directly from OpenFoodFacts ingredient data cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. See our methodology for the scoring formula.
00724685 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Spicy Queso label screening desk
Spicy Queso screens 100/100 with 0 flagged of 20 parsed ingredients. 7 of 20 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Hexametaphosphate). Derived index from public OFF + FDA SAFFA + CSPI data — not an official FDA rating; see methodology. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: Hot Flavored Peanuts (0 pts).
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.
No Nutri-Score grade is present for this record in the OpenFoodFacts snapshot this page is built from. The nutritional dimension is absent rather than assessed and withheld: the grade depends on a complete declared nutrition panel, and community-contributed records vary in how much of that panel they carry. Nothing about the missing grade implies anything either way about the panel itself. The screen below covers additive ratings only and does not depend on the nutrition figures.
A mid-length component list was parsed from this label. There are enough separate entries for the screen to match several independently, while each matched entry still carries visible weight in the resulting index. Lists of this size are the most common shape in the catalogue, which makes the composite here easier to place against comparable products than at either extreme.
Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood
Ingredient-list length vs every product we publish
Spicy Queso lists 20 ingredients on its label
20 70th percentile a longer ingredient list than 70% of the 359,392 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
- 6,017 products (2%)
- 2–4
- 24,515 products (7%)
- 4–6
- 30,975 products (9%)
- 6–8
- 30,947 products (9%)
- 8–10
- 31,570 products (9%)
- 10–12
- 29,866 products (8%)
- 12–14
- 28,397 products (8%)
- 14–16
- 27,399 products (8%)
- 16–18
- 24,531 products (7%)
- 18–20
- 19,104 products (5%)
- 20–22
- 14,716 products (4%)
- 22–24
- 12,256 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 10,853 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 9,356 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 7,948 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 6,771 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 5,945 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 5,283 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 4,549 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 4,084 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 24,310 products (7%)
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. No category with enough published products was available for this record, so the comparison runs against the whole published catalogue.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
Full Ingredient List
water, monterey jack cheese, vegetable oil, red bell peppers, parmesan cheese, salt, sugar, natural flavors, onion powder, monosodium glutamate, garlic, lactic acid, mono , diglycerides, sodium hexametaphosphate, artificial color, xanthan gum, sodium phosphate, maltodextrin, yeast
Other products containing Mono
Mono is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 254 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
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.
More from Tostitos
Cross-brand products with similar screening profiles
Two PlainFoodSafe-derived peer sets for Spicy Queso, both outside the Tostitos brand so the neighborhoods are not catalog containment (the More-from block above stays brand-local).
Similar safety score
Nearest cross-brand products by ingredient screening score (100/100 here).
Similar ingredient-count peers
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (20 here).
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.
