BANQUET Basic Mac And Cheese Meal, 8 OZ

100
Safe
Safety Score (out of 100)

BANQUET Basic Mac And Cheese Meal, 8 OZ receives a safety score of 100/100 based on ingredient analysis using FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) data and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. None of the ingredients in this product are flagged for safety concerns by FDA or CSPI databases. Product label data is sourced from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative database. See the full ingredient breakdown and safety assessment below.

Barcode
0031000007324
NOVA Group
4 — Ultra-processed
Serving Size
1 Meal (227 g) (227 g)

What the Data Says About

BANQUET Basic Mac And Cheese Meal, 8 OZ carries a composite safety score of 100/100, 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 did not identify any ingredients in this product that FDA SAFFA or CSPI Chemical Cuisine data flags as requiring caution or avoidance at the time of analysis. That is a meaningful clean-label signal, though it does not account for personal allergens, regional recalls, or inspection findings not reflected in federal additive databases. The per-ingredient breakdown below shows the source-level classification for each component.

On the NOVA processing scale, BANQUET Basic Mac And Cheese Meal, 8 OZ 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

Composite safety metrics for BANQUET Basic Mac And Cheese Meal, 8 OZ
Metric Value Source
PlainFoodSafe Score 100/100 FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite
Flagged ingredients 0 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

1
Macaroni And Cheese Sauce: Cheese Sauce: Water
2
Cheddar Club Cheese
3
Pasteurized Cultured Milk
4
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
5
Enzymes
6
Annatto
Coloring
Certain People Should Avoid
7
Color
8
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
9
Soybean Oil
10
Corn Starch
11
Nonfat Dry Milk
12
Cheese Flavor
13
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
14
Cheese
15
Granular And Blue {Pasteurized Milk
16
Cheese Culture
17
Enzyme}
18
Sunflower Oil
19
Maltodextrin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
20
Sodium Phosphate
21
Citric Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, ENZYME, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Safe GRAS
22
Lactic Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
Safe GRAS
23
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
24
Sodium Phosphates
25
Xanthan Gum
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FORMULATION AID, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Approved
26
Guar Gum
27
Beta Carotene
28
. Macaroni: Cooked Pasta: Water
29
Elbow Macaroni
30
Enriched Pasta
31
Durum Wheat Semolina
32
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
33
Ferrous Sulfate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
34
Thiamin Mononitrate
35
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
36
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
37
Milk
38
Wheat

Full Ingredient List

MACARONI AND CHEESE SAUCE: CHEESE SAUCE: Water, Cheddar Club Cheese (Pasteurized Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Annatto [Color]), Modified Whey, Soybean Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Nonfat Dry Milk, Cheese Flavor (Whey, Cheese [Granular and Blue {Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzyme}], Sunflower Oil, Maltodextrin, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid), Salt, Sugar, Sodium Phosphates, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Guar Gum, Beta Carotene (Color). MACARONI: COOKED PASTA: Water, Elbow Macaroni (Enriched Pasta [Durum Wheat Semolina, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid]), Soybean Oil. CONTAINS: MILK, WHEAT.

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.

Related

Data sourced from official FDA, USDA, and CDC food-safety databases. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFoodSafe Editorial