Safe

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels

by Trader Joe's

Open Food Facts label for barcode 00978972 · Trader Joe's · Plant-based foods and beverages. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.

Barcode 00978972 · Serving size 1 bag (262 g)

The verdict

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels by Trader Joe's scores 100/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 41 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 41-component record, beginning with Water, Sauce, Sugar. 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 41 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

68/100

Grade B-

Ingredient Safety

100/100

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.

00978972 · Open Food Facts · July 2026

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels label screening desk

SCORE-SAFE 100/100 FLAG-CLEAN 0 flagged LEN-DENSE 41 ing. REG-SPARSE 24% reg. NOVA-G4 G4 ultra NUTRI-C Nutri-C RANK-SHORT Len top 2% LEAD-RARE Sodium Carbonate PHOTO-FINISH Glaze with Aceto · ±0 BOOK-OFF …978972 · July 2026

10 of 41 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Carbonate). Source sheet 00978972 · 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: Glaze with Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP · Nearest score peer is Glaze with Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP 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. Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #11. Chicken-Less Mandarin Ora…100/1002. Glaze with Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #22. Glaze with Aceto Balsamic…100/1003. Vanilla Latte Creamer: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #33. Vanilla Latte Creamer100/1004. CREAMER: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #44. CREAMER100/1005. Kung Pao Chicken: 100/100 · 100% of the leader · rank #55. Kung Pao Chicken100/100
High-band neighbours for Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels (100/100) outside Trader Joe's.
Chart values as text

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

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels
100/100
Glaze with Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP
100/100
Vanilla Latte Creamer
100/100
CREAMER
100/100
Kung Pao Chicken
100/100

How It Compares to Its Category

Among the 78,450 products we've scored in the Plant-based foods and beverages category, the average safety score is 97.7/100. Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels scores 2.3 points above that category average (100/100 vs. 97.7/100), 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 Plant-based foods and beverages products

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels lists 41 ingredients on its label

41 98th percentile a longer ingredient list than 98% of the 63,434 products we track

0–2: 3,907 products (6%). Below this entry. 2–4: 7,921 products (12%). Below this entry. 4–6: 8,845 products (14%). Below this entry. 6–8: 7,032 products (11%). Below this entry. 8–10: 6,320 products (10%). Below this entry. 10–12: 4,190 products (7%). Below this entry. 12–14: 3,449 products (5%). Below this entry. 14–16: 3,051 products (5%). Below this entry. 16–18: 2,493 products (4%). Below this entry. 18–20: 2,053 products (3%). Below this entry. 20–22: 1,808 products (3%). Below this entry. 22–24: 1,758 products (3%). Below this entry. 24–26: 1,623 products (3%). Below this entry. 26–28: 1,606 products (3%). Below this entry. 28–30: 1,360 products (2%). Below this entry. 30–32: 1,198 products (2%). Below this entry. 32–34: 1,081 products (2%). Below this entry. 34–36: 901 products (1%). Below this entry. 36–38: 649 products (1%). Below this entry. 38–40: 534 products (1%). Below this entry. 40–42: 1,655 products (3%). This entry sits in this band. This product 0 42 every published Plant-based foods and beverages 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

63,434 products, bucketed in bands of 2. This entry: 41 (98th percentile). Data current as of July 2026.

0–2
3,907 products (6%)
2–4
7,921 products (12%)
4–6
8,845 products (14%)
6–8
7,032 products (11%)
8–10
6,320 products (10%)
10–12
4,190 products (7%)
12–14
3,449 products (5%)
14–16
3,051 products (5%)
16–18
2,493 products (4%)
18–20
2,053 products (3%)
20–22
1,808 products (3%)
22–24
1,758 products (3%)
24–26
1,623 products (3%)
26–28
1,606 products (3%)
28–30
1,360 products (2%)
30–32
1,198 products (2%)
32–34
1,081 products (2%)
34–36
901 products (1%)
36–38
649 products (1%)
38–40
534 products (1%)
40 and above
1,655 products (3%)

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 63,434 Plant-based foods and beverages 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
Water
2
Sauce
3
Sugar
Sweetener
Cut Back
4
Dehydrated Soy Sauce
5
Soybeans
6
Salt
Flavoring
Cut Back
7
Alcohol
8
Orange Juice Concentrate
9
Distilled White Vinegar
10
Salted Sake
11
Rice
12
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
13
Garlic Puree
14
Garlic
FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT
GRAS
15
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
16
Ginger Puree
17
Organic Ginger
18
Soybean Oil
19
Natural Orange Flavor
20
Red Pepper
21
Soy Flour
22
Textured Wheat Protein
23
Wheat Gluten
FIRMING AGENT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
24
Wheat Starch
FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FORMULATION AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE, STABILIZER OR THICKENER, TEXTURIZER
GRAS
25
Sodium Carbonate
ANTIOXIDANT, CURING OR PICKLING AGENT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID
GRAS
26
Mixed Tocopherols
27
Wheat
28
Gluten
29
Expeller Pressed Canola Oil
30
Breading
31
Wheat Flour
32
Rice Flour
33
Garlic Powder
34
Spice
35
Leavening
36
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, FORMULATION AID, LEAVENING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT, SEQUESTRANT
GRAS
37
Sodium Bicarbonate
EMULSIFIER OR EMULSIFIER SALT, FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, LEAVENING AGENT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, PH CONTROL AGENT, PROCESSING AID, SOLVENT OR VEHICLE
GRAS
38
Monocalcium Phosphate
39
Methylcellulose
40
Natural Flavors
41
Soy Protein Isolate

Full Ingredient List

Water, sauce (sugar, water, _soy_ sauce (water, _soybeans_, salt, organic alcohol), orange juice concentrate, distilled white vinegar, salted sake (water, rice, salt), cornstarch, garlic puree (garlic, citric acid), ginger puree (ginger, citric acid), organic _soybean_ oil, natural orange flavor, red pepper), _soy_ flour, textured _wheat_ protein (_wheat gluten_, _wheat_ starch, sodium carbonate, mixed tocopherols), _wheat_ (_gluten_), expeller pressed canola oil, breading (_wheat_ flour, rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, garlic powder, salt, spice, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), methylcellulose, natural flavors, _soy_ protein isolate.

Categories

Plant-based foods and beverages Plant-based foods Frozen foods

High-score cross-brand comparables for Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels

Neighbours outside Trader Joe's with screening scores in the same high band as Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels (100/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Trader Joe's; these peers cross brands.

Read the longer label in layers

Read the longer label in layers

Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels has a longer ingredient list than 98% of its Plant-based foods and beverages category comparison set. Use the ingredient table before relying on its single screening score.

This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.

Barcode 00978972: 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.