Safe

Instant lunch cheddar cheese

by Maruchan

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0041789001666 · Maruchan · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0041789001666 · Serving size 1 CONTAINER (64 g)

The verdict

Instant lunch cheddar cheese by Maruchan scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 60 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 0 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 60-component record, beginning with Enriched Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour, 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.

100/100
Safe safety score
0
None flagged · of 60 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.

89001666 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Instant lunch cheddar cheese label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 100/100 FLAG-CLEAN 0 flagged LEN-DENSE 60 ing. REG-SPARSE 27% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 0% LEAD-RARE Potassium Carbonate PHOTO-FINISH Ramen Noodle Soup · ±0 BOOK-OFF …001666 · July 2026

16 of 60 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Potassium Carbonate). Source sheet 89001666 · 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: Ramen Noodle Soup · Nearest score peer is Ramen Noodle Soup 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.

The declared list is among the longer ones in this catalogue. A component set this wide means the screen returns many individual ratings, and the composite accumulates a large number of small contributions instead of turning on a handful of entries. At this length the per-component table below is substantially more informative than the single figure, because the figure compresses a great deal of variation into one number.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Instant lunch cheddar cheese: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Instant lunch cheddar che…100/1002. Ramen Noodle Soup: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Ramen Noodle Soup100/1003. Ramen Noodles With Vegetables: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Ramen Noodles With Vegeta…100/1004. Ramen Noodle Soup: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Ramen Noodle Soup100/1005. Lime Chili Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Lime Chili Chicken Flavor…100/100
High-band neighbours for Instant lunch cheddar cheese (100/100) outside Maruchan.
Chart values as text

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

Instant lunch cheddar cheese
100/100
Ramen Noodle Soup
100/100
Ramen Noodles With Vegetables
100/100
Ramen Noodle Soup
100/100
Lime Chili Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup
100/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 78,450 products we've scored in the Plant-based foods and beverages category, the average safety score is 97.7/100. Instant lunch cheddar cheese scores 2.3 points above that category average (100/100 vs. 97.7/100), 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 Plant-based foods and beverages products

Instant lunch cheddar cheese lists 60 ingredients on its label

60 100th percentile a longer ingredient list than every other product we track

0–2: 3,907 products (6%). Below this entry. 2–4: 7,921 products (12%). Below this entry. 4–6: 8,845 products (14%). Below this entry. 6–8: 7,032 products (11%). Below this entry. 8–10: 6,320 products (10%). Below this entry. 10–12: 4,190 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 3,449 products (5%). Below this entry. 14–16: 3,051 products (5%). Below this entry. 16–18: 2,493 products (4%). Below this entry. 18–20: 2,053 products (3%). Below this entry. 20–22: 1,808 products (3%). Below this entry. 22–24: 1,758 products (3%). Below this entry. 24–26: 1,623 products (3%). Below this entry. 26–28: 1,606 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 1,360 products (2%). Below this entry. 30–32: 1,198 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 1,081 products (2%). Below this entry. 34–36: 901 products (1%). Below this entry. 36–38: 649 products (1%). Below this entry. 38–40: 534 products (1%). Below this entry. 40–42: 1,655 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. This product 0 42 every published Plant-based foods and beverages 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

63,434 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 60 (100th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
3,907 products (6%)
2–4
7,921 products (12%)
4–6
8,845 products (14%)
6–8
7,032 products (11%)
8–10
6,320 products (10%)
10–12
4,190 products (7%)
12–14
3,449 products (5%)
14–16
3,051 products (5%)
16–18
2,493 products (4%)
18–20
2,053 products (3%)
20–22
1,808 products (3%)
22–24
1,758 products (3%)
24–26
1,623 products (3%)
26–28
1,606 products (3%)
28–30
1,360 products (2%)
30–32
1,198 products (2%)
32–34
1,081 products (2%)
34–36
901 products (1%)
36–38
649 products (1%)
38–40
534 products (1%)
40 and above
1,655 products (3%)

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 63,434 Plant-based foods and beverages 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
Enriched Wheat Flour
2
Wheat Flour
3
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
4
Reduced Iron
5
Thiamine Mononitrate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
6
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
7
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
8
Vegetable Oil
9
Canola
10
Cottonseed
11
Palm
12
Preserved By Tbhq
13
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
14
Dehydrated Blend Of Cheese
15
Granular And Blue
16
Milk
17
Cheese Culture
18
Enzymes
19
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
20
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
21
Msg
22
Powdered Cream Substitute
23
Palm Oil
24
Corn Syrup Solids
25
Sodium Caseinate
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
26
Milk Derivative
27
Mono And Diglycerides
28
Food Starch-modified
29
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
30
Cooked Chicken
31
Hydrolyzed Corn
32
Wheat And Soy Protein
33
Dehydrated Vegetables
34
Onion
35
Garlic
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
GRAS
36
Dehydrated Parsley
37
Yeast Extract
38
Natural And Artificial Flavors
39
Silicon Dioxide
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT
Safe GRAS
40
Anti-caking Agent
41
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
42
Yellow Color #6
43
Yellow Color #5
44
Potassium Carbonate
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
45
Sodium
46
Mono
47
Hexameta
48
Tripoly
49
Phosphate
50
Sodium Carbonate
ANTIOXIDANT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
51
Dehydrated Soy Sauce
52
Water
53
Wheat
54
Soybeans
55
Spices
56
Disodium Inosinate
FLAVOR ENHANCER, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Approved
57
Disodium Guanylate
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
Approved
58
Chicken Broth
59
Soya Lecithin
60
Turmeric

Full Ingredient List

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: canola, cottonseed, palm) preserved by tbhq, salt, dehydrated blend of cheese (granular and blue [milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], whey), contains less than 2% of: sugar, monosodium glutamate, powdered cream substitute (palm oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate [milk derivative], mono and diglycerides), food starch-modified, maltodextrin, powdered cooked chicken, hydrolyzed corn, wheat and soy protein, dehydrated vegetables (onion, garlic, parsley), yeast extract, natural and artificial flavors, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), xanthan gum, yellow color #6, yellow color #5, potassium carbonate, sodium (mono, hexameta, and/or tripoly) phosphate, sodium carbonate, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), spices, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, chicken broth, soya lecithin, turmeric.

Other products containing Yellow Color #6

Yellow Color #6 is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 5 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

Plant-based foods and beverages Plant-based foods Cereals and potatoes Meals Cereals and their products Pastas Noodles Chinese noodles Flavoured Asian noodles Flavoured dehydrated Asian noodles

High-score cross-brand comparables for Instant lunch cheddar cheese

Neighbours outside Maruchan with screening scores in the same high band as Instant lunch cheddar cheese (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Maruchan; these peers cross brands.

Read the longer label in layers

Read the longer label in layers

Instant lunch cheddar cheese has a longer ingredient list than 100% of its Plant-based foods and beverages 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 0041789001666: 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.