Safe

Cottage cheese

by Giant Eagle

Open Food Facts label for barcode 0030034964306 · Giant Eagle · Dairies. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 0030034964306 · Serving size 113g

The verdict

Cottage cheese by Giant Eagle scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 18 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The 18-component label is layered, beginning with Cultured Nonfat Milk, Milk, Cream. Start with any flagged rows, then check the nutrition grade and serving size instead of treating one roll-up score as the whole decision. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.

95/100
Safe safety score
1
One flagged · of 18 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
B
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

70/100

Grade B

Ingredient Safety

95/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

B

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.

34964306 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Cottage cheese label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-LAYERED 18 ing. REG-PART 44% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-B Nutri-B RANK-SHORT Len top 12% LEAD-FLAG Phosphoric Acid PHOTO-FINISH Tropical Mango With · ±0 BOOK-OFF …964306 · July 2026

8 of 18 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Phosphoric Acid). Source sheet 34964306 · 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: Tropical Mango With Chicken Salad Bowl, Tropical Mango With Chicken · Nearest score peer is Tropical Mango With Chicken Salad Bowl, Tropical Mango With Chicken 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.

The Nutri-Score algorithm returned its second band for this label. That grade typically describes a nutrition panel whose favourable components register clearly in the model without fully offsetting its energy or sodium terms. Because the calculation is a single points balance rather than a set of independent thresholds, a strong fibre or protein figure can lift a panel into this band even where one penalised nutrient sits high. The grade summarises the declared panel alone and carries no information about the additive ratings screened below.

A mid-length component list was parsed from this label. There are enough separate entries for the screen to match several independently, while each matched entry still carries visible weight in the resulting index. Lists of this size are the most common shape in the catalogue, which makes the composite here easier to place against comparable products than at either extreme.

Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood

1. Cottage cheese: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Cottage cheese95/1002. Tropical Mango With Chicken Salad Bowl, Tropical Mango With Chicken: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Tropical Mango With Chick…95/1003. Coffee Chip Ice Cream: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Coffee Chip Ice Cream95/1004. Star Crunch Ice Cream Bar: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Star Crunch Ice Cream Bar95/1005. Syrup: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Syrup95/100
High-band neighbours for Cottage cheese (95/100) outside Giant Eagle.
Chart values as text

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

Cottage cheese
95/100
Tropical Mango With Chicken Salad Bowl, Tropical Mango With Chicken
95/100
Coffee Chip Ice Cream
95/100
Star Crunch Ice Cream Bar
95/100
Syrup
95/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 23,001 products we've scored in the Dairies category, the average safety score is 97.8/100. Cottage cheese scores 2.8 points below that category average (95/100 vs. 97.8/100), 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 Dairies products

Cottage cheese lists 18 ingredients on its label

18 88th percentile a longer ingredient list than 88% of the 21,438 products we track

0–2: 120 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 2,805 products (13%). Below this entry. 4–6: 4,714 products (22%). Below this entry. 6–8: 2,694 products (13%). Below this entry. 8–10: 1,996 products (9%). Below this entry. 10–12: 1,884 products (9%). Below this entry. 12–14: 1,734 products (8%). Below this entry. 14–16: 1,639 products (8%). Below this entry. 16–18: 1,261 products (6%). Below this entry. 18–20: 841 products (4%). This entry sits in this band. 20–22: 481 products (2%). Above this entry. 22–24: 303 products (1%). Above this entry. 24–26: 228 products (1%). Above this entry. 26–28: 151 products (1%). Above this entry. 28–30: 122 products (1%). Above this entry. 30–32: 115 products (1%). Above this entry. 32–34: 81 products (0%). Above this entry. 34–36: 57 products (0%). Above this entry. 36–38: 45 products (0%). Above this entry. 38–40: 33 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 134 products (1%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Dairies 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

21,438 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 18 (88th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
120 products (1%)
2–4
2,805 products (13%)
4–6
4,714 products (22%)
6–8
2,694 products (13%)
8–10
1,996 products (9%)
10–12
1,884 products (9%)
12–14
1,734 products (8%)
14–16
1,639 products (8%)
16–18
1,261 products (6%)
18–20
841 products (4%)
20–22
481 products (2%)
22–24
303 products (1%)
24–26
228 products (1%)
26–28
151 products (1%)
28–30
122 products (1%)
30–32
115 products (1%)
32–34
81 products (0%)
34–36
57 products (0%)
36–38
45 products (0%)
38–40
33 products (0%)
40 and above
134 products (1%)

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 21,438 Dairies 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 95/100 score is built

Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 18 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Cultured Nonfat Milk
2
Milk
3
Cream
4
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
5
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
6
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
7
Potassium Sorbate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT
Safe GRAS
8
Guar Gum
9
Citric Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, ENZYME, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT
Safe GRAS
10
Carrageenan
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, HUMECTANT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
Caution GRAS
11
Locust Bean Gum
12
Lactic Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
Safe GRAS
13
Phosphoric Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FUMIGANT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, PH CONTROL AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
Cut Back GRAS
14
Natural Flavor
15
Sodium Phosphate
16
Soy Lecithin
17
Potassium Phosphate
18
Enzymes

Full Ingredient List

CULTURED NONFAT MILK, MILK, CREAM, SALT, WHEY, CORNSTARCH, POTASSIUM SORBATE, GUAR GUM, CITRIC ACID, CARRAGEENAN, LOCUST BEAN GUM, LACTIC ACID, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVOR, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SOY LECITHIN, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, ENZYMES.

Categories

Dairies Fermented foods Fermented milk products Cheeses

High-score cross-brand comparables for Cottage cheese

Neighbours outside Giant Eagle with screening scores in the same high band as Cottage cheese (95/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Giant Eagle; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Phosphoric Acid is the first flagged ingredient selected from Cottage cheese's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 18-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Phosphoric Acid. Open Phosphoric Acid
  • Compare Cottage cheese's 1 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 0030034964306: 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.