Caution

So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon

by The Moran Group Incorporated

Scores 85/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 1 flagged ingredient identified.

Barcode 0051933533288 · Serving size 4 ONZ (112 g)

The verdict

So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon by The Moran Group Incorporated scores 85/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 38 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 38-component record, beginning with Cheese Sauce, Water, Cheddar Cheese. 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.

85/100
Caution safety score
1
flagged ingredient of 38 analyzed
Group 4
Ultra-processed
E
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.

What the Data Says About So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon

So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon by The Moran Group Incorporated carries a composite safety score of 85/100, which we classify as "Caution" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.

Of the 38 ingredients parsed from this label, 15 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Sodium Nitrate, Sorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride and 12 others), with 13 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 9 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 23 ingredients appear in neither registry, so they neither raise nor lower the score. Each additive rated caution-or-worse penalizes the composite. Product data originates from the OpenFoodFacts collaborative catalog; safety annotations come from federal regulators and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This score is a transparent derived index we compute from that public data, not an official FDA rating or endorsement; see the Methodology page for the exact weighting.

Our scan identified 1 flagged ingredient in this product, components that at least one official source has classified as requiring caution, targeted avoidance, or further evaluation. Flagged ingredients are the items most likely to surface in FDA inspection findings, state-level ingredient bans, or outbreak-related recall notices, so the per-ingredient breakdown below is the most useful lens for anyone screening this product for a specific dietary concern.

On the NOVA processing scale, So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon is classified as Group 4 (Ultra-processed). NOVA measures industrial processing intensity rather than ingredient-level safety, so it complements the SAFFA and CSPI ratings: a product can be clean on additive flags but heavily processed, or lightly processed but carry individually flagged ingredients. Combining both lenses gives a fuller picture than either alone.

How the three scores on this page were derived

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.

Nutri-Score assigned its lowest band to this label. The algorithm reserves that grade for nutrition panels where the values it penalises sit well above the components it credits. The two systems on this page measure genuinely different things: a product can hold this grade while carrying no additive flagged by the registries screened below, and a product graded well can carry several. Neither reading substitutes for the other, and the per-component table is where the additive picture is set out.

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.

Safety Profile at a Glance

Composite safety metrics for So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon
Metric Value Source
PlainFoodSafe Score 85/100 FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite
Flagged ingredients 1 CSPI/FDA review
NOVA processing group Group 4 OpenFoodFacts
Nutri-Score E OpenFoodFacts

Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.

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. So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon scores 8.6 points below that category average (85/100 vs. 93.6/100), so it is a comparatively weaker pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.

Ingredient-list length vs other Meals products

So-Cheezy, Shells & Cheddar Deluxe Dinner, Bacon lists 38 ingredients on its label

38 68th percentile a longer ingredient list than 68% 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: 208 products (2%). Below this entry. 8–10: 311 products (3%). Below this entry. 10–12: 316 products (3%). Below this entry. 12–14: 409 products (4%). Below this entry. 14–16: 479 products (4%). Below this entry. 16–18: 538 products (5%). Below this entry. 18–20: 549 products (5%). Below this entry. 20–22: 549 products (5%). Below this entry. 22–24: 551 products (5%). Below this entry. 24–26: 554 products (5%). Below this entry. 26–28: 550 products (5%). Below this entry. 28–30: 572 products (5%). Below this entry. 30–32: 516 products (5%). Below this entry. 32–34: 466 products (4%). Below this entry. 34–36: 456 products (4%). Below this entry. 36–38: 440 products (4%). Below this entry. 38–40: 389 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. 40–42: 3,208 products (28%). Above this entry. 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: 38 (68th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
12 products (0%)
2–4
83 products (1%)
4–6
127 products (1%)
6–8
208 products (2%)
8–10
311 products (3%)
10–12
316 products (3%)
12–14
409 products (4%)
14–16
479 products (4%)
16–18
538 products (5%)
18–20
549 products (5%)
20–22
549 products (5%)
22–24
551 products (5%)
24–26
554 products (5%)
26–28
550 products (5%)
28–30
572 products (5%)
30–32
516 products (5%)
32–34
466 products (4%)
34–36
456 products (4%)
36–38
440 products (4%)
38–40
389 products (3%)
40 and above
3,208 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

1
Cheese Sauce
2
Water
3
Cheddar Cheese
4
Pasteurized Milk
5
Cheese Culture
6
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
7
Enzymes
8
Soybean Oil
9
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
10
Natural Flavors
11
Bacon Bits
12
Bacon
13
Cured With Water
14
Sodium Erythorbate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT
Safe GRAS
15
Sodium Nitrate
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PROPELLANT
Avoid Prior Sanctioned
16
Natural Smoke Flavor
17
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
18
Dextrose
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, HUMECTANT, LUBRICANT OR RELEASE AGENT, NUTRITIVE SWEETENER, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Cut Back GRAS
19
Brown Sugar
20
Sodium Phosphate
21
Potassium Chloride
ENZYME, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, MALTING OR FERMENTING AID, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
Certain People Should Avoid GRAS
22
Natural Flavor
23
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
24
Nonfat Dry Milk
25
Color Added
26
Beta Carotene
27
Paprika Extract
28
Lactic Acid
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
Safe GRAS
29
Sodium Alginate Mono And Diglycerides
30
Xanthan Gum
ANTICAKING AGENT OR FREE-FLOW AGENT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DRYING AGENT, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FORMULATION AID, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, SURFACE-FINISHING AGENT, TEXTURIZER
Approved
31
Sorbic Acid
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
Safe GRAS
32
Enriched Macaroni Product
33
Wheat Flour
34
Niacin
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
35
Ferrous Sulfate
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PROCESSING AID, STABILIZER OR THICKENER
GRAS
36
Thiamin Mono-nitrate
37
Riboflavin
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
GRAS
38
Folic Acid
NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
Approved

Full Ingredient List

Cheese sauce (water, cheddar cheese [pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], soybean oil, whey, natural flavors, bacon bits [bacon (cured with water, salt, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrate), smoke flavor, sugar, dextrose, brown sugar, sodium phosphate, potassium chloride, natural flavor], maltodextrin, nonfat dry milk, sodium phosphate, salt, color added [beta carotene, paprika extract], lactic acid, sodium alginate mono and diglycerides, xanthan gum, sorbic acid), enriched macaroni product (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mono-nitrate, riboflavin, folic acid).

Categories

Meals Pasta dishes

Data Sources

Data as of July 2026. Source: OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine.

Product data from OpenFoodFacts (ODbL). Ingredient safety ratings from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine. See our methodology for details.

This information is for reference only and does not constitute dietary or medical advice.

Product data from Open Food Facts; additive safety from the FDA SAFFA inventory and CSPI Chemical Cuisine. See our methodology for details. Compiled by PlainFoodSafe

Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Product figures are computed directly from OpenFoodFacts, FDA SAFFA, and CSPI Chemical Cuisine data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.

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