Avoid

Battered mozzarella cheese sticks

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0046704062708 · Frozen foods. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0046704062708 · Serving size 1 PIECE (35 g)

The verdict

Battered mozzarella cheese sticks scores 25/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 40 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 40-component record, beginning with Part-skim Mozzarella Cheese, Cultured Part-skim Milk, Salt. 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 40 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.

04062708 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Battered mozzarella cheese sticks label screening desk

SCORE-AVOID 25/100 FLAG-FEW 3 flagged LEN-DENSE 40 ing. REG-PART 33% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-MID Len top 40% LEAD-FLAG Blue 1 PHOTO-SOLO No peers BOOK-OFF …062708 · July 2026

13 of 40 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Blue 1). Source sheet 04062708 · 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

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.

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.

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. Battered mozzarella cheese sticks scores 67.9 points below that category average (25/100 vs. 92.9/100), 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 Frozen foods products

Battered mozzarella cheese sticks lists 40 ingredients on its label

40 60th percentile a longer ingredient list than 60% of the 7,008 products we track

0–2: 11 products (0%). Below this entry. 2–4: 54 products (1%). Below this entry. 4–6: 54 products (1%). Below this entry. 6–8: 66 products (1%). Below this entry. 8–10: 102 products (1%). Below this entry. 10–12: 112 products (2%). Below this entry. 12–14: 184 products (3%). Below this entry. 14–16: 205 products (3%). Below this entry. 16–18: 245 products (3%). Below this entry. 18–20: 284 products (4%). Below this entry. 20–22: 264 products (4%). Below this entry. 22–24: 298 products (4%). Below this entry. 24–26: 247 products (4%). Below this entry. 26–28: 271 products (4%). Below this entry. 28–30: 284 products (4%). Below this entry. 30–32: 294 products (4%). Below this entry. 32–34: 325 products (5%). Below this entry. 34–36: 319 products (5%). Below this entry. 36–38: 314 products (4%). Below this entry. 38–40: 283 products (4%). Below this entry. 40–42: 2,792 products (40%). This entry sits in this band. This product 0 42 every published Frozen foods 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

7,008 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 40 (60th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
11 products (0%)
2–4
54 products (1%)
4–6
54 products (1%)
6–8
66 products (1%)
8–10
102 products (1%)
10–12
112 products (2%)
12–14
184 products (3%)
14–16
205 products (3%)
16–18
245 products (3%)
18–20
284 products (4%)
20–22
264 products (4%)
22–24
298 products (4%)
24–26
247 products (4%)
26–28
271 products (4%)
28–30
284 products (4%)
30–32
294 products (4%)
32–34
325 products (5%)
34–36
319 products (5%)
36–38
314 products (4%)
38–40
283 products (4%)
40 and above
2,792 products (40%)

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 7,008 Frozen foods 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 40 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Part-skim Mozzarella Cheese
2
Cultured Part-skim Milk
3
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
4
Enzymes
5
Water
6
Bleached Wheat Flour
7
Vegetable Oil
8
Soybean
9
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
10
Yellow Corn Flour
11
Wheat Flour
12
Enriched Flour
13
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
14
Reduced Iron
15
Thiamine Mononitrate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
16
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
17
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
18
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
19
Milk
20
Leavening
21
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, LEAVENING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
GRAS
22
Sodium Bicarbonate
EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
GRAS
23
Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
24
Natural Flavor
25
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
26
Spices
27
Oleoresin Of Paprika
28
Color
29
Soy Flour
30
Modified Food Starch
31
Iodized Salt
32
Pregelatinized Wheat Starch
33
Blue 1
Caution Approved (certified color)
34
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)
35
Yellow 5
Avoid Approved (certified color)
36
Egg
37
Nonfat Milk
38
Sodium Alginate
39
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
40
Mono And Diglycerides

Full Ingredient List

Part-skim mozzarella cheese (cultured part-skim milk, salt, enzymes), water, bleached wheat flour, vegetable oil (soybean and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil), yellow corn flour, wheat flour, contains less than 2% of: enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, whey (milk), leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate), natural flavor, dextrose, spices, oleoresin of paprika (color), soy flour, modified food starch, iodized salt, pregelatinized wheat starch, blue 1, red 40, yellow 5, egg, nonfat milk, sodium alginate, sugar, mono and diglycerides.

Other products containing Pregelatinized Wheat Starch

Pregelatinized Wheat Starch is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 8 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

Frozen foods

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Blue 1 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Battered mozzarella cheese sticks's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 40-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Blue 1. Open Blue 1
  • Compare Battered mozzarella cheese sticks'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 0046704062708: 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.