Chili cheese fries
Contains 3 flagged ingredients
Chili cheese fries receives a safety score of 45/100 based on ingredient analysis using FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) data and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. The product contains 3 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
Chili cheese fries carries a composite safety score of 45/100, which we classify as "Avoid" 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 3 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, Chili cheese fries 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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 45/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 3 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | Not available | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
Full Ingredient List
1. french fried potatoes [potatoes, vegetable oil (soybean, canola, corn and/or sunflower), modified food starch, rice flour, dextrin, salt, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), corn starch, xanthan gum, beta carotene, dextrose, tetrasodium pyrophosphate and disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate (to maintain natural color)], 2. fully cooked chili [water, ground beef (beef, salt), tomatoes (citric acid, calcium chloride), yellow, cooked pinto beans, cooked red beans, green chile (green chiles, salt, citric acid, and a trace of calcium chloride), butter (cream milk, salt), canola oil, beef base (cooked beef, salt, autolyzed yeast extract, sugar, dehydrated beef extract, onion powder, canola oil, lactic acid powder with modified corn starch, caramel color, garlic powder, soy lecithin, maltodextrin), cooked kidney beans, chili powder (chili peppers, salt, spices, garlic, less than 2% silicon dioxide added to prevent caking), worcestershire sauce (water, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, salt, vinegar, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy protein, wheat flour niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, natural flavor, guar gum, sodium benzoate), garlic (garlic, water), cayenne pepper sauce (aged cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic powder), spices, salt], 3. cheddar cheese sauce [water, cheese blend cheese [cheddar, granular and blue (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt enzymes], whey, sunflower oil, salt, maltodextrin, buttermilk solids, sodium phosphate, citric acid, lactic acid, yellow 5, yellow 6, cream, whole milk power, soybean oil, romano cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), modified corn starch, salt, sugar, butter flavor (whey solids, enzyme modified butter, maltodextrin, salt, dehydrated butter, guar gum, annatto and turmeric for color, contains milk), polysorbate 60, xanthan gum, onion powder, garlic powder, spice
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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