Safe

Cheese curls

by Utz

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0041780013552 · Utz · Snacks. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0041780013552 · Serving size 1 ONZ (28 g)

The verdict

Cheese curls by Utz scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 25 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 0 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 25-component label is layered, beginning with Corn Meal, Vegetable Oil, Cottonseed 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
None flagged · of 25 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

58/100

Grade C

Ingredient Safety

100/100

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.

80013552 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Cheese curls label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 100/100 FLAG-CLEAN 0 flagged LEN-LAYERED 25 ing. REG-SPARSE 28% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-MID Len top 28% LEAD-RARE Lactose PHOTO-FINISH Crab Cheese Balls · ±0 BOOK-OFF …013552 · July 2026

7 of 25 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Lactose). Source sheet 80013552 · 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: Crab Cheese Balls · Nearest score peer is Crab Cheese Balls 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. Cheese curls: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Cheese curls100/1002. Crab Cheese Balls: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Crab Cheese Balls100/1003. Handcooked Potato Chips: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Handcooked Potato Chips100/1004. Handcooked Potato Chips: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Handcooked Potato Chips100/1005. Mini Yellow Round Tortillas: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Mini Yellow Round Tortill…100/100
High-band neighbours for Cheese curls (100/100) outside Utz.
Chart values as text

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

Cheese curls
100/100
Crab Cheese Balls
100/100
Handcooked Potato Chips
100/100
Handcooked Potato Chips
100/100
Mini Yellow Round Tortillas
100/100

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. Cheese curls scores 13.9 points above that category average (100/100 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

Cheese curls lists 25 ingredients on its label

25 72nd percentile a longer ingredient list than 72% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 26–28: 2,829 products (3%). Above this entry. 28–30: 2,282 products (3%). Above this entry. 30–32: 1,905 products (2%). Above this entry. 32–34: 1,715 products (2%). Above this entry. 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: 25 (72nd 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
Corn Meal
2
Vegetable Oil
3
Cottonseed Oil
4
Corn Oil
5
Canola Oil
6
Sunflower Oil
7
Safflower Oil
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
Cheese
10
Cheddar And Semisoft
11
Pasteurized Milk
12
Cheese Culture
13
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
14
Enzymes
15
Whey Protein Concentrate
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
16
Lactose
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Certain People Should Avoid GRAS
17
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
18
Derived From Corn
19
Milkfat
20
Buttermilk Solids
21
Sodium Phosphate
22
Natural Flavor
23
Butter
24
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
25
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

Corn meal, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: cottonseed oil, corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, or safflower oil), whey, cheese (cheddar and semisoft [pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes]), whey protein concentrate, lactose, maltodextrin (derived from corn), salt, milkfat, buttermilk solids, sodium phosphate, natural flavor, butter, citric acid, lactic acid.

Categories

Snacks

High-score cross-brand comparables for Cheese curls

Neighbours outside Utz with screening scores in the same high band as Cheese curls (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Utz; these peers cross brands.

Read the longer label in layers

Read the longer label in layers

Cheese curls has a longer ingredient list than 72% of its Snacks category comparison set. Use the ingredient table before relying on its single screening score.

This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.

Barcode 0041780013552: 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.