Safe

Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks

by Gorton's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0044400108003 · Gorton's · Seafood. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0044400108003 · Serving size 5 STICKS (86 g)

The verdict

Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks by Gorton's scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 35 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 35-component record, beginning with Minced Alaska Pollock, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour, Flour. 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.

95/100
Safe safety score
1
One flagged · of 35 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
C
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

65/100

Grade B-

Ingredient Safety

95/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

C

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.

00108003 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-DENSE 35 ing. REG-PART 34% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-SHORT Len top 5% LEAD-FLAG Caramel Coloring PHOTO-FINISH A1 original sauce · ±0 BOOK-OFF …108003 · July 2026

12 of 35 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Caramel Coloring). Source sheet 00108003 · 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: A1 original sauce · Nearest score peer is A1 original sauce 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 settled on its middle grade here, the band the algorithm produces when the penalty and credit sides of its nutrient ledger come out close to balanced. A mid-scale grade is a statement about the panel as a whole rather than about any single nutrient, and products arrive at it by very different routes: a moderate profile across every term, or high marks on some offset by heavy penalties on others. The grade is computed separately from the ingredient screen below and the two are not comparable measures.

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. Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Smart & Crunchy Breaded F…95/1002. A1 original sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. A1 original sauce95/1003. A.1. New York Steakhouse Marinade: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. A.1. New York Steakhouse …95/1004. Thick & Hearty Sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Thick & Hearty Sauce95/1005. Pepper Sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Pepper Sauce95/100
High-band neighbours for Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks (95/100) outside Gorton's.
Chart values as text

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

Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks
95/100
A1 original sauce
95/100
A.1. New York Steakhouse Marinade
95/100
Thick & Hearty Sauce
95/100
Pepper Sauce
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. Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks 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 Seafood products

Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks lists 35 ingredients on its label

35 95th percentile a longer ingredient list than 95% of the 4,524 products we track

0–2: 39 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 1,326 products (29%). Below this entry. 4–6: 1,158 products (26%). Below this entry. 6–8: 327 products (7%). Below this entry. 8–10: 167 products (4%). Below this entry. 10–12: 156 products (3%). Below this entry. 12–14: 185 products (4%). Below this entry. 14–16: 129 products (3%). Below this entry. 16–18: 152 products (3%). Below this entry. 18–20: 124 products (3%). Below this entry. 20–22: 112 products (2%). Below this entry. 22–24: 74 products (2%). Below this entry. 24–26: 77 products (2%). Below this entry. 26–28: 75 products (2%). Below this entry. 28–30: 53 products (1%). Below this entry. 30–32: 56 products (1%). Below this entry. 32–34: 52 products (1%). Below this entry. 34–36: 37 products (1%). This entry sits in this band. 36–38: 25 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 20 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 180 products (4%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Seafood 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

4,524 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 35 (95th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
39 products (1%)
2–4
1,326 products (29%)
4–6
1,158 products (26%)
6–8
327 products (7%)
8–10
167 products (4%)
10–12
156 products (3%)
12–14
185 products (4%)
14–16
129 products (3%)
16–18
152 products (3%)
18–20
124 products (3%)
20–22
112 products (2%)
22–24
74 products (2%)
24–26
77 products (2%)
26–28
75 products (2%)
28–30
53 products (1%)
30–32
56 products (1%)
32–34
52 products (1%)
34–36
37 products (1%)
36–38
25 products (1%)
38–40
20 products (0%)
40 and above
180 products (4%)

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 4,524 Seafood 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 35 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Minced Alaska Pollock
2
Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour
3
Flour
4
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
5
Iron
6
Thiamin Mononitrate
7
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
8
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
9
Water
10
Palm Oil
11
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
12
Yellow Corn Flour
13
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
14
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
15
Natural Flavor
16
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
17
Garlic Powder
18
Onion Powder
19
Wheat Starch
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
20
Yeast
21
Caramel Coloring
Coloring
Avoid Approved (color additive, GRAS)
22
Beet Powder
23
Color
24
Baking Powder
25
Baking Soda
26
Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
27
Corn Starch
28
Wheat Flour
29
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
30
Colored With Paprika
31
Annatto
Coloring
Certain People Should Avoid
32
Turmeric Extracts
33
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
34
Beta Carotene
35
Cottonseed Oil

Full Ingredient List

Minced alaska pollock, enriched bleached wheat flour, (flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, palm oil, maltodextrin, less than 2% of: yellow corn flour, whey, salt, natural flavor, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, wheat starch, yeast, caramel color, beet powder (color), baking powder (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate), modified corn starch, wheat flour, xanthan gum, colored with paprika, annatto, and turmeric extracts, dextrose, beta carotene (color), cottonseed oil.

Categories

Seafood Fishes and their products Fishes Frozen foods Fish preparations Frozen seafood Breaded products Breaded fish Fish fingers

High-score cross-brand comparables for Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks

Neighbours outside Gorton's with screening scores in the same high band as Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks (95/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Gorton's; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Caramel Coloring is the first flagged ingredient selected from Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 35-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Caramel Coloring. Open Caramel Coloring
  • Compare Smart & Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks'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 0044400108003: 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.