Macaroni and cheese
Macaroni and cheese receives a safety score of 100/100 based on ingredient analysis using FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) data and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. None of the ingredients in this product are flagged for safety concerns by FDA or CSPI 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
Macaroni and cheese carries a composite safety score of 100/100, which we classify as "Safe" 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 did not identify any ingredients in this product that FDA SAFFA or CSPI Chemical Cuisine data flags as requiring caution or avoidance at the time of analysis. That is a meaningful clean-label signal, though it does not account for personal allergens, regional recalls, or inspection findings not reflected in federal additive databases. The per-ingredient breakdown below shows the source-level classification for each component.
On the NOVA processing scale, Macaroni and cheese 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 B 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 | 100/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 0 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | B | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
Full Ingredient List
Water, cooked enriched pasta (water, enriched pasta (durum wheat semolina, egg white, niacin, iron [ferrous sulfate], thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid]), reduced fat cheddar cheese (pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto and vitamin a [color]), nonfat dry milk, contains less than 2% of: cheddar club cheese (pasteurized cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto [color]), wheat flour, whey, margarine (liquid and hydrogenated soybean oil, water, salt, contains less than 2% of vegetable mono & diglycerides, soy lecithin, sodium benzoate [a preservative], citric acid, natural & artificial flavor, calcium disodium edta added to protect flavor, beta carotene [color], vitamin a palmitate added), modified rice starch, cheese flavor (cream, cheddar and bleu cheese [milk, starter cultures, salt, enzymes, water, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate, sodium citrate], cheddar cheese [milk, starter cultures, salt, enzymes, water, disodium phosphate, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate], cheese [milk, salt, starter cultures, enzymes, water, whey powder, nonfat dry milk, salt, disodium phosphate], maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract), modified corn starch, salt, potassium chloride, soybean oil, annatto extract (refined soy bean oil, annatto extract, mono & di-glycerides), spice, citric acid.
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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