Safe

Beef Shepherd's Pie

by Trader Joe's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 00362603 · Trader Joe's · Meals. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 00362603 · Serving size 229 g

The verdict

Beef Shepherd's Pie by Trader Joe's scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 49 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 49-component record, beginning with Shepherd's Pie, Filling, Cooked Beef. 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.

95/100
Safe safety score
1
One flagged · of 49 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
C
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

65/100

Grade B-

Ingredient Safety

95/100

FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening

Processing Level

NOVA 4

Ultra-processed foods

Nutrition Grade

C

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.

00362603 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Beef Shepherd's Pie label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-DENSE 49 ing. REG-SPARSE 20% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-SHORT Len top 17% LEAD-FLAG Caramel Coloring PHOTO-FINISH BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutritional · ±0 BOOK-OFF …362603 · July 2026

10 of 49 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Caramel Coloring). Source sheet 00362603 · 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: BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutritional Powder Drink Mix Rich Milk Chocolate · Nearest score peer is BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutritional Powder Drink Mix Rich Milk Chocolate 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.

Nutri-Score settled on its middle grade here, the band the algorithm produces when the penalty and credit sides of its nutrient ledger come out close to balanced. A mid-scale grade is a statement about the panel as a whole rather than about any single nutrient, and products arrive at it by very different routes: a moderate profile across every term, or high marks on some offset by heavy penalties on others. The grade is computed separately from the ingredient screen below and the two are not comparable measures.

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. Beef Shepherd's Pie: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Beef Shepherd's Pie95/1002. BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutritional Powder Drink Mix Rich Milk Chocolate: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutr…95/1003. Coffee Creamer: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Coffee Creamer95/1004. Coffee Mate Coffee Creamer, French Vanilla: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. Coffee Mate Coffee Creame…95/1005. Butterscotch Latte Coffee creamer: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Butterscotch Latte Coffee…95/100
High-band neighbours for Beef Shepherd's Pie (95/100) outside Trader Joe's.
Chart values as text

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

Beef Shepherd's Pie
95/100
BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS Nutritional Powder Drink Mix Rich Milk Chocolate
95/100
Coffee Creamer
95/100
Coffee Mate Coffee Creamer, French Vanilla
95/100
Butterscotch Latte Coffee creamer
95/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 24,982 products we've scored in the Frozen foods category, the average safety score is 92.9/100. Beef Shepherd's Pie scores 2.1 points above that category average (95/100 vs. 92.9/100), 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 Meals products

Beef Shepherd's Pie lists 49 ingredients on its label

49 83rd percentile a longer ingredient list than 83% of the 11,283 products we track

0–2: 12 products (0%). Below this entry. 2–4: 83 products (1%). Below this entry. 4–6: 127 products (1%). Below this entry. 6–8: 209 products (2%). Below this entry. 8–10: 312 products (3%). Below this entry. 10–12: 315 products (3%). Below this entry. 12–14: 412 products (4%). Below this entry. 14–16: 477 products (4%). Below this entry. 16–18: 542 products (5%). Below this entry. 18–20: 552 products (5%). Below this entry. 20–22: 545 products (5%). Below this entry. 22–24: 550 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 552 products (5%). Below this entry. 26–28: 552 products (5%). Below this entry. 28–30: 574 products (5%). Below this entry. 30–32: 517 products (5%). Below this entry. 32–34: 466 products (4%). Below this entry. 34–36: 451 products (4%). Below this entry. 36–38: 443 products (4%). Below this entry. 38–40: 388 products (3%). Below this entry. 40–42: 3,204 products (28%). This entry sits in this band. This product 0 42 every published Meals 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

11,283 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 49 (83rd percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
12 products (0%)
2–4
83 products (1%)
4–6
127 products (1%)
6–8
209 products (2%)
8–10
312 products (3%)
10–12
315 products (3%)
12–14
412 products (4%)
14–16
477 products (4%)
16–18
542 products (5%)
18–20
552 products (5%)
20–22
545 products (5%)
22–24
550 products (5%)
24–26
552 products (5%)
26–28
552 products (5%)
28–30
574 products (5%)
30–32
517 products (5%)
32–34
466 products (4%)
34–36
451 products (4%)
36–38
443 products (4%)
38–40
388 products (3%)
40 and above
3,204 products (28%)

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 11,283 Meals 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 49 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

1
Shepherd's Pie
2
Filling
3
Cooked Beef
4
Beef
5
Beef Broth
6
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
7
Gravy
8
Water
9
Mushrooms
10
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
11
Organic Onions
12
Tomatoes
13
Tomato
14
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
15
Mushroom Base
16
Mushroom
17
Maltodextrin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
18
Olive Oil
19
Yeast Extract
20
Mushroom Concentrate
21
Cane Sugar
22
Onion Powder
23
Black
24
Pepper
25
Garlic
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
GRAS
26
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
27
Thyme
28
Vegetable Blend
29
Peas
30
Corn
31
Carrot
32
Green Beans
33
Base
34
Dried Beef Stock
35
Concentrate
36
Maltodextrin
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Safe GRAS
37
Sunflower Oil
38
Onion
39
Garlic
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
GRAS
40
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
41
Caramel Coloring
Coloring
Avoid Approved (color additive, GRAS)
42
Celery
43
Seed
44
Mashed
45
Potato
46
Milk
47
Vitamin D3
48
Dehydrated Parsley
49
Black Pepper

Full Ingredient List

Shepherd's Pie, Filling (Cooked Beef [Beef, Beef Broth, Salt], Gravy [Water,, Mushrooms, Cornstarch, Onions,, Tomatoes{Tomatoes, Tomato, Puree, Salt, Citric Acid},, Mushroom Base{Sauteed, Mushroom, Organic Maltodextrin,, Olive Oil, Yeast Extract, Salt,, Mushroom Concentrate, Organic, Cane Sugar, Onion Powder, Black, Pepper}, Garlic, Sugar, Thyme]),, Vegetable Blend [Peas, Corn,, Carrot, Green Beans,]), Beef, Base{Roasted Beef, Beef Stock, Concentrate, Salt, Yeast Extract,, Maltodextrin, Sunflower Oil,, Sugar, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic,, Dried Whey, Caramel Color, Celery, Seed, Black Pepper}), Mashed, Potato (Potato (Salt), Milk, [Milk, Vitamin D3], Cornstarch, Garlic, Puree, Parsley, Black Pepper).

Categories

Meals Frozen foods Combination Meals Frozen ready-made meals

High-score cross-brand comparables for Beef Shepherd's Pie

Neighbours outside Trader Joe's with screening scores in the same high band as Beef Shepherd's Pie (95/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Trader Joe's; these peers cross brands.

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Follow the flagged-label evidence

Caramel Coloring is the first flagged ingredient selected from Beef Shepherd's Pie's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 49-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Caramel Coloring. Open Caramel Coloring
  • Compare Beef Shepherd's Pie'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 00362603: 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.