Safe

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread

by Flowers Foods Inc.

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0072250011341 · Flowers Foods Inc. · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0072250011341 · Serving size 1.7 ONZ (49 g)

The verdict

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread by Flowers Foods Inc. scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 32 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 32-component record, beginning with Unbleached Enriched Flour, Wheat Flour, Malted Barley 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.

100/100
Safe safety score
0
None flagged · of 32 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

68/100

Grade B-

Ingredient Safety

100/100

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.

50011341 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 100/100 FLAG-CLEAN 0 flagged LEN-DENSE 32 ing. REG-PART 41% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-SHORT Len top 8% LEAD-RARE Calcium Iodate PHOTO-FINISH Whole wheat sliced · ±0 BOOK-OFF …011341 · July 2026

13 of 32 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Calcium Iodate). Source sheet 50011341 · 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: Whole wheat sliced bread · Nearest score peer is Whole wheat sliced bread 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. Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Merita, Old Fashioned San…100/1002. Whole wheat sliced bread: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Whole wheat sliced bread100/1003. CALCIUM FORTIFIED ENRICHED BREAD: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. CALCIUM FORTIFIED ENRICHE…100/1004. Wonder, enriched bread: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Wonder, enriched bread100/1005. Wonder, classic enriched hamburger buns: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Wonder, classic enriched …100/100
High-band neighbours for Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread (100/100) outside Flowers Foods Inc..
Chart values as text

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

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread
100/100
Whole wheat sliced bread
100/100
CALCIUM FORTIFIED ENRICHED BREAD
100/100
Wonder, enriched bread
100/100
Wonder, classic enriched hamburger buns
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. Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread 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

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread lists 32 ingredients on its label

32 92nd percentile a longer ingredient list than 92% of the 63,434 products 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%). This entry sits in this band. 34–36: 901 products (1%). Above this entry. 36–38: 649 products (1%). Above this entry. 38–40: 534 products (1%). Above this entry. 40–42: 1,655 products (3%). Above this entry. 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: 32 (92nd 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
Unbleached Enriched Flour
2
Wheat Flour
3
Malted Barley Flour
4
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
5
Reduced 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
High-fructose corn syrup
Sweetener
Cut Back
11
Yeast
12
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
13
Soybean Oil
14
Wheat Gluten
FIRMING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
15
Dough Conditioners
16
Sodium stearoyl lactylate
Other
Safe
17
Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate
18
Monoglycerides
19
Diglycerides
20
Calcium Peroxide
DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
GRAS
21
Calcium Iodate
DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
22
Datem
Emulsifier
Safe
23
Ethoxylated Mono - And Diglycerides
24
Enzymes
25
Soy Flour
26
Yeast Food
27
Ammonium Sulfate
DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FIRMING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, LEAVENING AGENT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
28
Monocalcium Phosphate
29
Calcium Sulfate
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, LEAVENING AGENT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
30
Soy Lecithin
31
Calcium Propionate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT
Safe GRAS
32
1221-021114

Full Ingredient List

Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% or less of each of the following: yeast, salt, soybean oil, wheat gluten, dough conditioners (contains one or more of the following: sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl lactylate, monoglycerides and/or diglycerides, calcium peroxide, calcium iodate, datem, ethoxylated mono - and diglycerides, enzymes), soy flour, yeast food (ammonium sulfate), monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, soy lecithin, calcium propionate (to retard spoilage). 1221-021114

Categories

Plant-based foods and beverages Plant-based foods Cereals and potatoes Breads

High-score cross-brand comparables for Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread

Neighbours outside Flowers Foods Inc. with screening scores in the same high band as Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Flowers Foods Inc.; these peers cross brands.

Read the longer label in layers

Read the longer label in layers

Merita, Old Fashioned Sandwich Bread has a longer ingredient list than 92% 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 0072250011341: 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.