Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner

Name: Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner
Brand: Kraft

1Avoid

Breakdown

Ultra-processed · 1 contaminant flagged · 3 ingredients to avoid

Includes lab results from its product family: Kraft Mac & Cheese Dinner (boxed, sauce packet)

100

Lab-measured contaminants

Measured against published safety limits

−25

cadmium−25

Ingredients

−64

folic acid−13

sodium triphosphate−12

sodium phosphate−12

niacin−4

whey−4

6 more deductions−19

Processing

−10

NOVA 4: ultra-processed−10

Final score1

Contaminants · 4

1 at/over limit

From lab tests of this product’s family

Kraft Mac & Cheese Dinner (boxed, sauce packet)

This product wasn’t tested · results may differ

In the family’s tests: measured by an independent lab and compared against published safety limits.

Cadmium7.32 ppbof 5 ppb

Over the limit — 1.5×FDA bottled-water Standard of Quality, 21 CFR 165.110(b) — 0.005 mg/L

Measured in: Original Mac and Cheese Dinner

ArsenicNDof 10 ppb

Not detectedFDA bottled-water Standard of Quality, 21 CFR 165.110(b) — 0.010 mg/L (= EPA MCL)

Measured in: Original Mac and Cheese Dinner

LeadNDof 5 ppb

Not detectedFDA bottled-water Standard of Quality, 21 CFR 165.110(b) — 0.005 mg/L

Measured in: Original Mac and Cheese Dinner

MercuryNDof 2 ppb

Not detectedFDA bottled-water Standard of Quality, 21 CFR 165.110(b) — 0.002 mg/L

Measured in: Original Mac and Cheese Dinner

Ingredients · 21

GoodCautionAvoid

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Healthier swaps

Same shelf, cleaner ingredients

Browse Pasta & Noodles

Common questions

Is Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner healthy?

Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner scores 1/100 on Tallow — our avoid band. That number comes from what is on the label: the ingredients, how processed it is, and what it is packaged in, plus lab results from its product family, Kraft Mac & Cheese Dinner (boxed, sauce packet). It is not a verdict on your diet — Tallow does not weigh calories, portion size or how often you eat it, so a high score means the ingredients are clean, not that the food is unlimited.

What is in Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner?

Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner lists 21 ingredients, starting with Wheat Flour, Durum Flour, Niacin, Folic Acid and Whey. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so the first few make up most of what you are eating.

Does Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner contain seed oils?

No. Nothing in Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner’s ingredient list matches a seed oil — canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, rice bran or peanut oil, or an unspecified "vegetable oil".

How processed is Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner?

Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner is NOVA group 4: ultra-processed. That is the top of the scale and the classification the score penalises most heavily.

How does Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner compare to other pasta & noodles?

At 1/100 Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner scores worse than most pasta & noodles we have scored. A higher-scoring option in pasta & noodles is Rao's Homemade Spaghetti at 100/100.

Is Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner organic?

Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner is not certified organic in our data.

Has Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner been lab tested?

Not this product itself. It shares a base recipe (Wheat/durum macaroni with powdered cheese sauce (whey, milk fat, tapioca); no cocoa, rice, nut or protein powder) with the other products in its family, Kraft Mac & Cheese Dinner (boxed, sauce packet), and 1 product in its family has been lab tested. This product is scored with the worst result for each contaminant across those tests. Those results are in the family's Contaminants section above; its own results may differ.

Does Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner contain heavy metals?

Kraft Spirals Original Mac and Cheese Dinner itself has not been tested for heavy metals, but other products in its family, which share its base recipe, have: a lab detected cadmium at 7.32 ppb against a 5 ppb limit in Original Mac and Cheese Dinner. This product is scored with the worst result for each contaminant across those tests. Its own results may differ.

Full methodology: how we score products.