Shells & Cheese Original
by Velveeta
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0021000023226 · Velveeta · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Shells & Cheese Original by Velveeta scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 35 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 0 ingredients are flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 35-component record, beginning with Enriched Macaroni Product, Wheat Flour, Glycerol. 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.
- 100/100
- Safe safety score
- 0
- None flagged · of 35 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- D
- 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
63/100
Grade C+
Ingredient Safety
100/100
FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening
Processing Level
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
Nutrition Grade
D
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.
00023226 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Shells & Cheese Original label screening desk
9 of 35 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Whey Protein Concentrate). Source sheet 00023226 · 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: mac & cheese DELUXE ORIGINAL CHEDDAR · Nearest score peer is mac & cheese DELUXE ORIGINAL CHEDDAR at the same screening score.
Screening model notes
How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record
Within the four-tier shelf-label framework this site publishes, the composite for this product falls in the highest band. That band is defined by a threshold on the derived score alone: it is where labels land once components carrying caution-or-worse registry ratings contribute little or nothing to the deduction. The band is a summary of what the screened registries return for the components that were parsed, so it inherits their coverage gaps — a component absent from both registries neither raises nor lowers the figure. The threshold and the weighting behind it are set out on the methodology page.
This label falls in the fourth Nutri-Score band. The model arrives there when its penalty terms — energy density, sugars, saturated fat, sodium — carry more weight in the calculation than the fibre, protein and produce content it credits. The band covers a wide span of the points scale, so position within it is not visible from the letter alone. The grade reflects the declared nutrition panel and is unrelated to the additive ratings listed below, which come from different bodies applying different criteria.
This label parsed into a long component list. Where many entries are screened at once, the composite tends to reflect the overall mix of registry ratings returned rather than the rating of any one entry. Longer declarations also carry more sub-listed and compound entries, where a parenthetical group is resolved into its parts, so the parsed count can exceed what a reader counts on the packaging.
Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 78,450 products we've scored in the Plant-based foods and beverages category, the average safety score is 97.7/100. Shells & Cheese Original scores 2.3 points above that category average (100/100 vs. 97.7/100), so it is roughly typical for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.
Ingredient-list length vs other Plant-based foods and beverages products
Shells & Cheese Original lists 35 ingredients on its label
35 95th percentile a longer ingredient list than 95% of the 63,434 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
- 3,907 products (6%)
- 2–4
- 7,921 products (12%)
- 4–6
- 8,845 products (14%)
- 6–8
- 7,032 products (11%)
- 8–10
- 6,320 products (10%)
- 10–12
- 4,190 products (7%)
- 12–14
- 3,449 products (5%)
- 14–16
- 3,051 products (5%)
- 16–18
- 2,493 products (4%)
- 18–20
- 2,053 products (3%)
- 20–22
- 1,808 products (3%)
- 22–24
- 1,758 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 1,623 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 1,606 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 1,360 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 1,198 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 1,081 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 901 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 649 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 534 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 1,655 products (3%)
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 63,434 Plant-based foods and beverages 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
enriched macaroni product (wheat flour, glycerol, monostearate, niacin, ferrous sulfate [iron], thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin b2], folic acid), cheese sauce (whey, canola oil, cheddar cheese, [milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], whey protein concentrate, milk, milk protein concentrate, sodium phosphate, contains less than 2% of salt, lactic acid, sodium alginate, sorbic acid as a preservative, oleoresin paprika [color], enzymes, cheese culture, annatto extract [color], milkfat, natural flavor), modified food starch, maltodextrin, acetylated monoglycerides, salt, medium chain triglycerides.
Other products containing Monostearate
Monostearate is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 29 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Velveeta
High-score cross-brand comparables for Shells & Cheese Original
Neighbours outside Velveeta with screening scores in the same high band as Shells & Cheese Original (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Velveeta; these peers cross brands.
Same high-band screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (100/100 here, no caution flags on the parsed list).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (35 on 0021000023226).
Read the longer label in layers
Read the longer label in layers
Shells & Cheese Original has a longer ingredient list than 95% of its Plant-based foods and beverages category comparison set. Use the ingredient table before relying on its single screening score.
- Open Whey Protein Concentrate first, then work through the remaining 35 parsed entries. Inspect ingredients
- Compare this longer label with a cross-brand product of similar list depth. Compare label depth
- Use the methodology to separate a derived screening score from dietary or medical advice. Read the boundary
This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.
Barcode 0021000023226: 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.