Safe

Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper

by Hormel

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0037600437257 · Hormel · Meats and their products. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0037600437257 · Serving size 3 COOKED LINKS (53 g)

The verdict

Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper by Hormel scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 20 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The 20-component label is layered, beginning with Maple-flavored Peppered Bacon, Cured With Water, Salt. 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.

95/100
Safe safety score
1
One flagged · of 20 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.

Composite profile score

One verdict from three independent sources

55/100

Grade C

Ingredient Safety

95/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

E

Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition grade

Weighted 50% ingredient safety / 25% processing level / 25% nutrition grade. A dimension with no data for this product (common: source coverage is partial) is dropped and its weight redistributes across the remaining dimensions, so missing data never silently lowers the score. See the full benchmark table.

00437257 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-LAYERED 20 ing. REG-PART 45% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 16% LEAD-FLAG Caramel Coloring PHOTO-FINISH APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli · ±0 BOOK-OFF …437257 · July 2026

9 of 20 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Caramel Coloring). Source sheet 00437257 · Open Food Facts · July 2026. The screening score and flag counts are in the verdict band above. This desk is the provenance stamp, not a second scorecard. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli TURKEY · Nearest score peer is APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli TURKEY 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.

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

1. Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Hormel, bacon & pork saus…95/1002. APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli TURKEY: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli TUR…95/1003. Noodles & Beef: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Noodles & Beef95/1004. Cheesy Potatoes & Beef: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Cheesy Potatoes & Beef95/1005. sliced roasted TURKEY BREAST AND GRAVY: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. sliced roasted TURKEY BRE…95/100
High-band neighbours for Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper (95/100) outside Hormel.
Chart values as text

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

Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper
95/100
APPLEWOOD SMOKED deli TURKEY
95/100
Noodles & Beef
95/100
Cheesy Potatoes & Beef
95/100
sliced roasted TURKEY BREAST AND GRAVY
95/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 24,982 products we've scored in the Frozen foods category, the average safety score is 92.9/100. Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper scores 2.1 points above that category average (95/100 vs. 92.9/100), so it is roughly typical for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Meats and their products products

Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper lists 20 ingredients on its label

20 84th percentile a longer ingredient list than 84% of the 11,159 products we track

0–2: 79 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 430 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 612 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 1,397 products (13%). Below this entry. 8–10: 1,485 products (13%). Below this entry. 10–12: 1,698 products (15%). Below this entry. 12–14: 1,463 products (13%). Below this entry. 14–16: 996 products (9%). Below this entry. 16–18: 734 products (7%). Below this entry. 18–20: 489 products (4%). Below this entry. 20–22: 377 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. 22–24: 277 products (2%). Above this entry. 24–26: 234 products (2%). Above this entry. 26–28: 140 products (1%). Above this entry. 28–30: 145 products (1%). Above this entry. 30–32: 92 products (1%). Above this entry. 32–34: 83 products (1%). Above this entry. 34–36: 66 products (1%). Above this entry. 36–38: 74 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 50 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 238 products (2%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Meats and their products 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

11,159 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 20 (84th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
79 products (1%)
2–4
430 products (4%)
4–6
612 products (5%)
6–8
1,397 products (13%)
8–10
1,485 products (13%)
10–12
1,698 products (15%)
12–14
1,463 products (13%)
14–16
996 products (9%)
16–18
734 products (7%)
18–20
489 products (4%)
20–22
377 products (3%)
22–24
277 products (2%)
24–26
234 products (2%)
26–28
140 products (1%)
28–30
145 products (1%)
30–32
92 products (1%)
32–34
83 products (1%)
34–36
66 products (1%)
36–38
74 products (1%)
38–40
50 products (0%)
40 and above
238 products (2%)

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 11,159 Meats and their products 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

How the 95/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 20 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Maple-flavored Peppered Bacon
2
Cured With Water
3
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
4
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
5
Maple Flavor
6
Water
7
Mixed Triglycerides
8
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
9
Gelatin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
10
Flavoring
11
Caramel Coloring
Coloring
Avoid Approved (color additive, GRAS)
12
Gum Acacia
13
Carboxymethylcellulose
14
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
15
Sodium Benzoate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FUMIGANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Certain People Should Avoid GRAS
16
Sodium Erythorbate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT
Safe GRAS
17
Sodium Nitrite. Coated With Black Pepper
18
Pork
19
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
20
Flavoring

Full Ingredient List

Maple-flavored peppered bacon (cured with water, salt, sugar, maple flavor [water, mixed triglycerides, corn syrup, gelatin, natural flavoring, caramel color, gum acacia, carboxymethylcellulose, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate {preservative}] sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite. coated with black pepper.), pork, water, sugar, dextrose, flavoring.

Categories

Meats and their products Frozen foods Meats Frozen meats

High-score cross-brand comparables for Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper

Neighbours outside Hormel with screening scores in the same high band as Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper (95/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Hormel; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Caramel Coloring is the first flagged ingredient selected from Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 20-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Caramel Coloring. Open Caramel Coloring
  • Compare Hormel, bacon & pork sausage, maple black pepper'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 0037600437257: 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.