Little Debbie Nutri-Score E NOVA 4

Star Crunch

Snacks / Sweet snacks / Biscuits and cakes / Biscuits

Product Insight: Star Crunch

Star Crunch by Little Debbie is tracked in PlainIngredients with 11 identified ingredients and carries an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5 — a Low-Risk-to-Safe tier backed by FDA and EU regulatory status. On the NOVA processing scale, this product falls into Group 4 (Ultra-processed foods), a standard framework for classifying how heavily food has been industrially modified before reaching the shelf, and Its Nutri-Score grade is E, the European front-of-pack nutritional label summarizing calories, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, protein, fiber, and produce content. Within the identified ingredient list, 1 ingredient is currently flagged as Caution or High Risk and warrant individual review via the linked ingredient pages, while 8 ingredients sit at the Low-Risk or Safe end of the scale.

Our composite score weighs each ingredient's U.S. FDA regulatory status (GRAS, Approved, or Banned), European Union food-additive status under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, any U.S. state-level restrictions, and signals drawn from peer-reviewed toxicology literature. The per-product score is the mean of the per-ingredient ratings and should be read as a structured summary rather than a clinical verdict; edge cases such as cumulative exposure, individual allergies, and dietary interactions are not captured by a single number and are better addressed by reading the individual ingredient pages linked below.

Sources: Open Food Facts (product + ingredient list, CC0 licensed) · FDA SAFFA · EU Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 · U.S. state food-safety statutes

4
Low Risk
Average ingredient safety: 4 out of 5
Based on 11 tracked ingredients
11
Tracked Ingredients
1
Concerning
8
Low Risk / Safe
E
Nutri-Score
1 ingredient flagged for safety concerns

Ingredient Safety Breakdown

Processing Level

4
NOVA Group 4
Ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed products are formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives. They typically contain ingredients not commonly used in home cooking.

Full Ingredients List

sugar, corn syrup, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin b1], riboflavin [vitamin b2], folic acid), crisp rice (rice flour, sugar, whey, salt, barley malt, wheat flour, dextrose), palm and palm kernel oil, whole grain oats, palm and soybean oils with tbhq and citric acid to protect flavor, dextrose, water, whey, contains 2% or less of each of the following: soy flour, cocoa processed with alkali, raisins, molasses, salt, colors (caramel color, red 40, titanium dioxide, annatto extract, beta carotene, yellow 5, turmeric, blue 1, yellow 6 lake, blue 2 lake), leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate), soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, mono - and diglycerides, eggs, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, glycerin, potassium sorbate and sorbic acid and calcium propionate (to preserve freshness), citric acid, pectin, egg whites, sodium citrate, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate

Data Sources

  • Open Food Facts — Product data and ingredient lists
  • FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) Inventory — Safety scores
  • EU Food Additive Regulations (EC) No 1333/2008

Product Details

Barcode
0024300041143
Nutri-Score
Grade E
NOVA Group
4 — Ultra-processed foods
Available In
United States

Find Products

Related

Data sourced from official EWG, FDA GRAS, and ingredient toxicology databases. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainIngredients Editorial

Verify with FDA →