Hickory Ham & Cheddar Hot Pockets
by Nestle
Contains 2 flagged ingredients
Hickory Ham & Cheddar Hot Pockets by Nestle receives a safety score of 80/100 based on ingredient analysis using FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) data and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. The product contains 2 ingredients that have been flagged for potential safety concerns by regulatory or consumer advocacy databases. Product label data is sourced from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative database. See the full ingredient breakdown and safety assessment below.
What the Data Says About
Hickory Ham & Cheddar Hot Pockets by Nestle carries a composite safety score of 80/100, which we classify as "Caution" 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 identified 2 flagged ingredients in this product — components that at least one official source has classified as requiring caution, targeted avoidance, or further evaluation. Flagged ingredients are the items most likely to surface in FDA inspection findings, state-level ingredient bans, or outbreak-related recall notices, so the per-ingredient breakdown below is the most useful lens for anyone screening this product for a specific dietary concern.
On the NOVA processing scale, Hickory Ham & Cheddar Hot Pockets 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. The Nutri-Score grade of D reflects nutritional balance — calories, saturated fat, sugar, sodium versus fiber, protein, and produce content — which again is a distinct dimension from additive safety and worth weighing alongside the scores above.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 80/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 2 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | D | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
Full Ingredient List
Enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, fully cooked ham and water product, 25% of weight is added ingredients, ground and formed, natural smoke flavor added (cured with water, sugar, salt, sodium phosphate, dehydrated pork broth, potassium chloride, carrageenan, natural smoke flavor, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite), reduced fat cheddar cheese (pasteurized part skim milk, skim milk, modified food starch*, cultures, salt, flavors*, potassium chloride*, annatto, vitamin a palmitate, enzymes, *ingredients not in regular cheddar cheese), margarine (palm oil, water, soybean oil, sugar, mono & diglycerides, soybean lecithin, potassium sorbate and citric acid [preservatives], annatto and turmeric color, vitamin a palmitate added), 2% or less of modified food starch, creamer (coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate [milk], mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, soy lecithin), sugar, palm oil, maltodextrin, salt, soybean oil, fractionated palm oil, bread crumbs (bleached wheat flour, dextrose, yeast, salt), bleached enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, amylase, ascorbic acid, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), dough conditioner blend (calcium sulfate, salt, l-cysteine hydrochloride, garlic powder, tricalcium phosphate, enzymes), seasoning (cheddar/blue cheeses (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), whey, salt, dextrose, dried onion, natural flavor, soybean oil, garlic powder, citric acid, lactic acid, spice, extractives of paprika and annatto), yeast, potassium chloride, cheese sauce powder (cheddar cheese [milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes], butter [cream, salt], natural flavor, buttermilk powder, disodium phosphate, extractives of annatto and paprika), soy lecithin, natural butter flavor, whey, lactic acid blend (lactic acid, calcium lactate), cultured whey, autolyzed yeast extract (autolyzed yeast extract, salt), whey protein concentrate, color added, citric acid, soy flour, egg white.
Categories
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.
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