Shells & cheese
by Aldi
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0041498111748 · Aldi · Meals. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Shells & cheese by Aldi scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 32 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 32-component record, beginning with Enriched Macaroni, Enriched Wheat And Durum Flour, Niacin. 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 32 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.
98111748 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Shells & cheese label screening desk
8 of 32 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Ferrous Sulfate). Source sheet 98111748 · 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: Burman's, horseradish sauce, original · Nearest score peer is Burman's, horseradish sauce, original 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 15,626 products we've scored in the Meals category, the average safety score is 93.6/100. Shells & cheese scores 6.4 points above that category average (100/100 vs. 93.6/100), so it is a comparatively strong pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.
Ingredient-list length vs other Meals products
Shells & cheese lists 32 ingredients on its label
32 56th percentile a longer ingredient list than 56% of the 11,283 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
- 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
Full Ingredient List
enriched macaroni (enriched wheat and durum flour [niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate riboflavin, folic acid]), cheese sauce: (water, cheddär cheese [pateurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], canola oil, whey, natural flavors, non-fat dry milk, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate, salt, color added (beta carotene, paprika extract), sodium alginate, mono and diglycerides, lactic acid, xanthan gum, sorbic acid to preserve freshness, n facts arton (113g) iner about 3 ving calories from fat 90 % daily value* 16% at 4,5g 23% 18mg ng hydrate 49g 16% er 2g 6% 25% contains: wheat, milk, double
Other products containing Pateurized Milk
Pateurized Milk is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 4 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Aldi
High-score cross-brand comparables for Shells & cheese
Neighbours outside Aldi with screening scores in the same high band as Shells & cheese (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Aldi; 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 (32 on 0041498111748).
Trace this label’s coverage
Trace this label’s coverage
8 of 32 parsed ingredients on Shells & cheese match at least one source registry. Use the ingredient records to see which entries carry source context and which remain unmatched.
- Review Ferrous Sulfate as the most distinctive source-covered entry on this label. Inspect ingredients
- Compare this product with a nearby cross-brand screening score. Compare labels
- Read the methodology before treating source coverage as a food, medical, or dietary conclusion. Read the boundary
This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.
Barcode 0041498111748: 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.