Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese
by Old El Paso
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0046000462936 · Old El Paso. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese by Old El Paso scores 75/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 36 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 36-component record, beginning with Limited Corn, Palm Oil, Salt. 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.
- 75/100
- Caution safety score
- 1
- One flagged · of 36 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- 0046000462936
- Barcode (UPC/EAN)
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
53/100
Grade C-
Ingredient Safety
75/100
FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening
Processing Level
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
Nutrition Grade
N/A
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.
00462936 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese label screening desk
11 of 36 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Red 40). Source sheet 00462936 · 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: Chocolate Lucky Charms · Nearest score peer is Chocolate Lucky Charms at the same screening score.
Screening model notes
How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record
The composite for this product falls in the second band of the four-tier framework. That band collects labels whose registry-rated components pull the derived score down measurably without dominating it. Position inside a band is not visible from the band name, and two labels sharing it can differ in how many components were rated and how severely. This is a threshold on an index computed here from public data, not a regulatory classification of any kind; the exact cut-offs are published on the methodology page.
No Nutri-Score grade is present for this record in the OpenFoodFacts snapshot this page is built from. The nutritional dimension is absent rather than assessed and withheld: the grade depends on a complete declared nutrition panel, and community-contributed records vary in how much of that panel they carry. Nothing about the missing grade implies anything either way about the panel itself. The screen below covers additive ratings only and does not depend on the nutrition figures.
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
Ingredient-list length vs every product we publish
Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese lists 36 ingredients on its label
36 91st percentile a longer ingredient list than 91% of the 359,392 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
- 6,050 products (2%)
- 2–4
- 24,522 products (7%)
- 4–6
- 31,054 products (9%)
- 6–8
- 30,981 products (9%)
- 8–10
- 31,618 products (9%)
- 10–12
- 29,943 products (8%)
- 12–14
- 28,403 products (8%)
- 14–16
- 27,417 products (8%)
- 16–18
- 24,508 products (7%)
- 18–20
- 19,062 products (5%)
- 20–22
- 14,679 products (4%)
- 22–24
- 12,238 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 10,830 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 9,344 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 7,955 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 6,753 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 5,918 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 5,282 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 4,531 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 4,063 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 24,241 products (7%)
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. No category with enough published products was available for this record, so the comparison runs against the whole published catalogue.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
How the 75/100 score is built
Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 36 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.
Full Ingredient List
Limited Corn, Palm Oil. Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Maltodextrin, Whey, Buttermilk*, Reduced Lactose Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Cheddar Cheese* (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Canola Oil, Garlic*, Water, Tomato*, Dextrose, Onion*, Citric Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Blue Cheese* (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Whey Protein Concentrate, Spice, Color (Yellow 5 & 6, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake And Other Color Added), Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Modified Corn Starch, Lactic Acid, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Nonfat Milk*, Freshness Preserved By Tbhq.
More from Old El Paso
Mid-score cross-brand comparables for Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese
Neighbours outside Old El Paso near Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese's mid-band score (75/100). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Old El Paso; these peers cross brands.
Same mid-band screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (1 flagged of 36 on 0046000462936).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (36 on 0046000462936).
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Red 40 is the first flagged ingredient selected from Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 36-ingredient record.
- Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Red 40. Open Red 40
- Compare Taco Shells, Nacho 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 0046000462936: 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.