Avoid

Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese

by Essential Everyday

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0041303059838 · Essential Everyday · Snacks. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0041303059838 · Serving size 1 BAG (28 g)

The verdict

Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese by Essential Everyday scores 25/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 33 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 3 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 33-component record, beginning with Enriched Cornmeal, Cornmeal, Niacin. 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.

25/100
Avoid safety score
3
Few flagged · of 33 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

20/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

25/100

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.

03059838 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese label screening desk

SCORE-AVOID 25/100 FLAG-FEW 3 flagged LEN-DENSE 33 ing. REG-PART 48% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 16% LEAD-FLAG Yellow 6 PHOTO-FINISH Candy · ±0 BOOK-OFF …059838 · July 2026

16 of 33 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Yellow 6). Source sheet 03059838 · 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: Candy · Nearest score peer is Candy at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

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

The composite for this product falls in the lowest of the four bands. That is where labels land when registry-rated components drive the greater part of the deduction from the index. The band name is drawn from the framework's own scale and is distinct from the ratings the registries themselves assign to individual substances, which are shown per component below. A single heavily rated component and several lightly rated ones can produce the same band, so the component table is the more precise reading of the two.

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. Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Essential everyday, crunc…25/1002. Candy: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Candy25/1003. Classic Candy Corn: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Classic Candy Corn25/1004. Gummy Worms Candy: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Gummy Worms Candy25/1005. Halloween candy brachs candy cornbag: 25/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Halloween candy brachs ca…25/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese (25/100 on 33 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

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

Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese
25/100
Candy
25/100
Classic Candy Corn
25/100
Gummy Worms Candy
25/100
Halloween candy brachs candy cornbag
25/100

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. Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese scores 61.1 points below that category average (25/100 vs. 86.1/100), so it is a comparatively weaker pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Snacks products

Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese lists 33 ingredients on its label

33 84th percentile a longer ingredient list than 84% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 34–36: 1,572 products (2%). Above this entry. 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: 33 (84th 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

How the 25/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (3 flagged of 33 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Enriched Cornmeal
2
Cornmeal
3
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
4
Ferrous Sulfate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
5
Cornstarch
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
6
Tricalcium Phosphate
7
Thiamine Mononitrate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
8
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
9
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
10
Vegetable Oil
11
Corn
12
Organic Sunflower
13
Canola
14
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
15
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
16
Cheddar Cheese
17
Cultured Milk
18
Enzymes
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
Butter
21
Cream
22
Nonfat Dry Milk
23
Whey Protein Concentrate
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
24
Disodium Phosphate
25
Msg
26
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
27
Artificial Colors
28
Yellow 5
Avoid Approved (certified color)
29
Yellow 6
Avoid Approved (certified color)
30
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)
31
Annatto
Coloring
Certain People Should Avoid
32
Natural Flavors
33
Lactic Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
Safe GRAS

Full Ingredient List

Enriched cornmeal (cornmeal, niacin, ferrous sulfate, cornstarch, tricalcium phosphate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid), vegetable oil (corn, and/or sunflower, and/or canola), whey, salt, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), maltodextrin, butter (cream, salt), nonfat dry milk, whey protein concentrate, disodium phosphate, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, artificial colors (including yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40, and annatto), natural flavors, lactic acid.

Categories

Snacks

Lower-score cross-brand comparables for Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese

Neighbours outside Essential Everyday in the same lower screening band as Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese (25/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Essential Everyday; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Yellow 6 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 33-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Yellow 6. Open Yellow 6
  • Compare Essential everyday, crunchy cheese curls snacks, cheese's 3 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 0041303059838: 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.