Concern

Pumpkin Spice Twinkies

by Hostess

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0888109255169 · Hostess · Snacks. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0888109255169 · Serving size 2 cakes (77 g)

The verdict

Pumpkin Spice Twinkies by Hostess scores 50/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 37 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 2 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 37-component record, beginning with Sugar, Water, Enriched 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.

50/100
Concern safety score
2
Few flagged · of 37 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

33/100

Grade F

Ingredient Safety

50/100

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.

09255169 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Pumpkin Spice Twinkies label screening desk

SCORE-CONC 50/100 FLAG-FEW 2 flagged LEN-DENSE 37 ing. REG-PART 43% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-E Nutri-E RANK-SHORT Len top 12% LEAD-FLAG Polysorbate 60 PHOTO-FINISH Golden Sponge Cakes · ±0 BOOK-OFF …255169 · July 2026

16 of 37 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Polysorbate 60). Source sheet 09255169 · 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: Golden Sponge Cakes With Creme Filing, Golden Creme · Nearest score peer is Golden Sponge Cakes With Creme Filing, Golden Creme at the same screening score.

Screening model notes

How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record

This label lands in the third of four positions on the published scale. What separates that position from its neighbours is arithmetic rather than judgement: identical inputs run through the documented weighting always arrive at the same place. Anyone who works the calculation through by hand, using the methodology write-up together with the itemised ratings further down, will reproduce this number exactly — which is the reason for publishing a computed figure instead of an opinion.

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.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Pumpkin Spice Twinkies: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Pumpkin Spice Twinkies50/1002. Golden Sponge Cakes With Creme Filing, Golden Creme: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Golden Sponge Cakes With …50/1003. White Fudge Ding Dongs: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. White Fudge Ding Dongs50/1004. Iced Vanilla Cake with creamy filling: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Iced Vanilla Cake with cr…50/1005. Golden Sponge Cake: 50/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Golden Sponge Cake50/100
Nearest cross-brand screening scores for Pumpkin Spice Twinkies (50/100 on 37 parsed ingredients).
Chart values as text

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

Pumpkin Spice Twinkies
50/100
Golden Sponge Cakes With Creme Filing, Golden Creme
50/100
White Fudge Ding Dongs
50/100
Iced Vanilla Cake with creamy filling
50/100
Golden Sponge Cake
50/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 88,006 products we've scored in the Snacks category, the average safety score is 86.1/100. Pumpkin Spice Twinkies scores 36.1 points below that category average (50/100 vs. 86.1/100), 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 Snacks products

Pumpkin Spice Twinkies lists 37 ingredients on its label

37 88th percentile a longer ingredient list than 88% of the 81,477 products we track

0–2: 275 products (0%). Below this entry. 2–4: 2,901 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 4,248 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 5,408 products (7%). Below this entry. 8–10: 5,486 products (7%). Below this entry. 10–12: 5,840 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 6,252 products (8%). Below this entry. 14–16: 6,724 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 6,221 products (8%). Below this entry. 18–20: 5,168 products (6%). Below this entry. 20–22: 4,508 products (6%). Below this entry. 22–24: 3,809 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 3,567 products (4%). Below this entry. 26–28: 2,829 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 2,282 products (3%). Below this entry. 30–32: 1,905 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 1,715 products (2%). Below this entry. 34–36: 1,572 products (2%). Below this entry. 36–38: 1,417 products (2%). This entry sits in this band. 38–40: 1,284 products (2%). Above this entry. 40–42: 8,066 products (10%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Snacks 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

81,477 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 37 (88th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
275 products (0%)
2–4
2,901 products (4%)
4–6
4,248 products (5%)
6–8
5,408 products (7%)
8–10
5,486 products (7%)
10–12
5,840 products (7%)
12–14
6,252 products (8%)
14–16
6,724 products (8%)
16–18
6,221 products (8%)
18–20
5,168 products (6%)
20–22
4,508 products (6%)
22–24
3,809 products (5%)
24–26
3,567 products (4%)
26–28
2,829 products (3%)
28–30
2,282 products (3%)
30–32
1,905 products (2%)
32–34
1,715 products (2%)
34–36
1,572 products (2%)
36–38
1,417 products (2%)
38–40
1,284 products (2%)
40 and above
8,066 products (10%)

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 81,477 Snacks 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 50/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (2 flagged of 37 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
2
Water
3
Enriched Flour
4
Bleached Wheat Flour
5
Malted Barley Flour
6
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
7
Ferrous Sulfate Or Reduced Iron
8
Thiamine Mononitrate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
9
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
10
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved
11
High-fructose corn syrup
Sweetener
Cut Back
12
Tallow
13
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
14
Egg
15
Modified Food Starch
16
Soybean Oil
17
Tallow
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
Glycerin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, HUMECTANT, MASTICATORY SUBSTANCE, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
20
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
21
Sodium Acid Prophosphate
22
Baking Soda
23
Enzymes
24
Cornstarch
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
25
Cottonseed Oil
26
Cinnamon
27
Sorbic Acid And Potassium Sorbate
28
Mono And Diglycerides
29
Natural And Artificial Flavors
30
Cellulose Gum
31
Sodium stearoyl lactylate
Other
Safe
32
Soy Lecithin
33
Xanthan Gum
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FORMULATION AID, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Approved
34
Polysorbate 60
BOILER WATER ADDITIVE, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Caution Approved
35
Monocalcium Phosphate
36
Yellow 5
Avoid Approved (certified color)
37
Red 40
Avoid Approved (certified color)

Full Ingredient List

SUGAR, WATER, ENRICHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE OR REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, TALLOW, DEXTROSE, EGG, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS: MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SOYBEAN OIL, HYDROGENATED TALLOW, WHEY, GLYCERIN, SALT, SODIUM ACID PROPHOSPHATE, BAKING SODA, ENZYMES, CORNSTARCH, COTTONSEED OIL, CINNAMON, SORBIC ACID AND POTASSIUM SORBATE, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CELLULOSE GUM, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, SOY LECITHIN, XANTHAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 60, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, YELLOW 5, RED 40.

Categories

Snacks Sweet snacks Biscuits and cakes Cakes

Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Pumpkin Spice Twinkies

Neighbours outside Hostess near Pumpkin Spice Twinkies's mid-band score (50/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Hostess; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Polysorbate 60 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Pumpkin Spice Twinkies's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 37-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Polysorbate 60. Open Polysorbate 60
  • Compare Pumpkin Spice Twinkies's 2 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 0888109255169: 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.