Safe

Trader joe's, steak sauce

by Trader Joe's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 00507516 · Trader Joe's · Condiments. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 00507516 · Serving size 1 Tbsp (17 g)

The verdict

Trader joe's, steak sauce by Trader Joe's scores 95/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 35 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 35-component record, beginning with Organic Tomato Puree, Water, Tomato Paste. 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 35 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.

00507516 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Trader joe's, steak sauce label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 95/100 FLAG-ONE 1 flagged LEN-DENSE 35 ing. REG-SPARSE 20% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-SHORT Len top 3% LEAD-FLAG Caramel Coloring PHOTO-FINISH Carnation instant breakfast · ±0 BOOK-OFF …507516 · July 2026

7 of 35 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Caramel Coloring). Source sheet 00507516 · 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: Carnation instant breakfast essentials strawberry count box · Nearest score peer is Carnation instant breakfast essentials strawberry count box 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.

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

1. Trader joe's, steak sauce: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Trader joe's, steak sauce95/1002. Carnation instant breakfast essentials strawberry count box: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Carnation instant breakfa…95/1003. Deli Style Tuna Salad: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Deli Style Tuna Salad95/1004. DUO Vanilla + Cinnamon: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. DUO Vanilla + Cinnamon95/1005. Tuna Creations Herb & Garlic: 95/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Tuna Creations Herb & Gar…95/100
High-band neighbours for Trader joe's, steak sauce (95/100) outside Trader Joe's.
Chart values as text

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

Trader joe's, steak sauce
95/100
Carnation instant breakfast essentials strawberry count box
95/100
Deli Style Tuna Salad
95/100
DUO Vanilla + Cinnamon
95/100
Tuna Creations Herb & Garlic
95/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 31,268 products we've scored in the Condiments category, the average safety score is 98.3/100. Trader joe's, steak sauce scores 3.3 points below that category average (95/100 vs. 98.3/100), 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 Condiments products

Trader joe's, steak sauce lists 35 ingredients on its label

35 97th percentile a longer ingredient list than 97% of the 27,084 products we track

0–2: 186 products (1%). Below this entry. 2–4: 1,031 products (4%). Below this entry. 4–6: 1,392 products (5%). Below this entry. 6–8: 2,093 products (8%). Below this entry. 8–10: 2,811 products (10%). Below this entry. 10–12: 3,070 products (11%). Below this entry. 12–14: 2,818 products (10%). Below this entry. 14–16: 2,724 products (10%). Below this entry. 16–18: 2,451 products (9%). Below this entry. 18–20: 2,045 products (8%). Below this entry. 20–22: 1,563 products (6%). Below this entry. 22–24: 1,244 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 934 products (3%). Below this entry. 26–28: 694 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 551 products (2%). Below this entry. 30–32: 420 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 246 products (1%). Below this entry. 34–36: 196 products (1%). This entry sits in this band. 36–38: 135 products (0%). Above this entry. 38–40: 134 products (0%). Above this entry. 40–42: 346 products (1%). Above this entry. This product 0 42 every published Condiments 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

27,084 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 35 (97th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
186 products (1%)
2–4
1,031 products (4%)
4–6
1,392 products (5%)
6–8
2,093 products (8%)
8–10
2,811 products (10%)
10–12
3,070 products (11%)
12–14
2,818 products (10%)
14–16
2,724 products (10%)
16–18
2,451 products (9%)
18–20
2,045 products (8%)
20–22
1,563 products (6%)
22–24
1,244 products (5%)
24–26
934 products (3%)
26–28
694 products (3%)
28–30
551 products (2%)
30–32
420 products (2%)
32–34
246 products (1%)
34–36
196 products (1%)
36–38
135 products (0%)
38–40
134 products (0%)
40 and above
346 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 27,084 Condiments 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 35 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.

Full Ingredient List

Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), onion puree, sugar, molasses, white vinegar, horseradish (horseradish, vinegar, water, salt , soybean oil), salt, soybean oil, orange juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, anchovy paste (salted anchovies, olive oil, acetic acid), roasted garlic puree (garlic, water, natural flavor, citric acid), jalapeno puree (jalapeno peppers, vinegar, salt), soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), natural grill flavor, natural malt flavor, ancho chili powder, natural hickory smoke flavor, ground mustard seed, black pepper, caramel color, cloves, xanthan gum.

Other products containing Salted Anchovies

Salted Anchovies is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 5 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.

Categories

Condiments Sauces Groceries

High-score cross-brand comparables for Trader joe's, steak sauce

Neighbours outside Trader Joe's with screening scores in the same high band as Trader joe's, steak sauce (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 Trader joe's, steak sauce's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 35-ingredient record.

  • Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Caramel Coloring. Open Caramel Coloring
  • Compare Trader joe's, steak sauce'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 00507516: 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.