Spicy Chicken Sandwich
by Ahold
Scores 75/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.
The verdict
Spicy Chicken Sandwich by Ahold scores 75/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 52 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 52-component record, beginning with Chicken Breast With Rib Meat, Enriched Wheat Flour, Wheat 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.
- 75/100
- Caution safety score
- 1
- flagged ingredient of 52 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.
What the Data Says About Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Spicy Chicken Sandwich by Ahold carries a composite safety score of 75/100, which we classify as "Caution" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 52 ingredients parsed from this label, 16 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Mustard Flour, Sorbitan Monostearate, Calcium Propionate and 13 others), with 14 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 7 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 36 ingredients appear in neither registry, so they neither raise nor lower the score. Each additive rated caution-or-worse penalizes the composite. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This score is a transparent derived index we compute from that public data, not an official FDA rating or endorsement; see the Methodology page for the exact weighting.
Our scan identified 1 flagged ingredient 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, Spicy Chicken Sandwich 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.
How the three scores on this page were derived
The composite for this product falls in the second band of the four-tier framework. That band collects labels whose registry-rated components pull the derived score down measurably without dominating it. Position inside a band is not visible from the band name, and two labels sharing it can differ in how many components were rated and how severely. This is a threshold on an index computed here from public data, not a regulatory classification of any kind; the exact cut-offs are published 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.
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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 75/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 1 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | C | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
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. Spicy Chicken Sandwich scores 17.9 points below that category average (75/100 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
Spicy Chicken Sandwich lists 52 ingredients on its label
52 81st percentile a longer ingredient list than 81% of the 7,008 products we track
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
- 0–2
- 11 products (0%)
- 2–4
- 54 products (1%)
- 4–6
- 53 products (1%)
- 6–8
- 67 products (1%)
- 8–10
- 101 products (1%)
- 10–12
- 113 products (2%)
- 12–14
- 183 products (3%)
- 14–16
- 206 products (3%)
- 16–18
- 245 products (3%)
- 18–20
- 282 products (4%)
- 20–22
- 266 products (4%)
- 22–24
- 297 products (4%)
- 24–26
- 247 products (4%)
- 26–28
- 272 products (4%)
- 28–30
- 284 products (4%)
- 30–32
- 293 products (4%)
- 32–34
- 324 products (5%)
- 34–36
- 321 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
Full Ingredient List
Fully cooked breaded spicy chicken breast patty with rib meat: chicken breast with rib meat, enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, salt, bread crumb (bleached wheat flour, dextrose, salt, yeast), cracker meal (wheat flour, leavening [sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium bicarbonate]), modified food starch, spice, sodium phosphate, extractives of paprika, leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate), wheat gluten, dried egg whites, flavor (gum arabic, spice extractive), yellow corn flour, nonfat dry milk, seasoning (salt, mustard flour, maltodextrin, chili pepper, paprika, spices, extractives of paprika, extractives of turmeric), soybean oil (processing aid), breading set in vegetable. bun: enriched bleached wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzyme), water, sugar, soybean oil, contains 2% or less of each: yellow corn meal, yeast (yeast, sorbitan monostearate, ascorbic acid), salt, calcium propionate (preservative). monoglycerides with ascorbic acid and citric acid (antioxidants), calcium sulfate, enzymes, wheat starch, ascorbic acid, yellow 5.
Other products containing Monoglycerides With Ascorbic Acid And Citric Acid
Monoglycerides With Ascorbic Acid And Citric Acid is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 89 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
Data Sources
Data as of July 2026. 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.
Related
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Product figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, and CSPI Chemical Cuisine data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.
