Chow Mein
Scores 45/100 on FDA SAFFA + CSPI ingredient analysis , with 3 flagged ingredients identified.
The verdict
Chow Mein by Panda Express scores 45/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 29 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 3 ingredients are flagged for caution. The 29-component label is layered, beginning with Cabbage, Enriched Wheat Flour, Water. Start with any flagged rows, then check the nutrition grade and serving size instead of treating one roll-up score as the whole decision. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.
- 45/100
- Avoid safety score
- 3
- flagged ingredients of 29 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.
What the Data Says About Chow Mein
Chow Mein by Panda Express carries a composite safety score of 45/100, which we classify as "Avoid" on our four-tier shelf-label framework.
Of the 29 ingredients parsed from this label, 14 are covered by a regulator or watchdog we screen against (Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Carbonate and 11 others), with 11 carrying an FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) status and 7 a CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating. The remaining 15 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 3 flagged ingredients 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, Chow Mein 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 lowest of the four bands. That is where labels land when registry-rated components drive the greater part of the deduction from the index. The band name is drawn from the framework's own scale and is distinct from the ratings the registries themselves assign to individual substances, which are shown per component below. A single heavily rated component and several lightly rated ones can produce the same band, so the component table is the more precise reading of the two.
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.
Safety Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PlainFoodSafe Score | 45/100 | FDA SAFFA + CSPI composite |
| Flagged ingredients | 3 | CSPI/FDA review |
| NOVA processing group | Group 4 | OpenFoodFacts |
| Nutri-Score | C | OpenFoodFacts |
Composite metric derived from FDA SAFFA, CSPI Chemical Cuisine, OpenFoodFacts. See methodology.
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. Chow Mein scores 52.7 points below that category average (45/100 vs. 97.7/100), 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 Plant-based foods and beverages products
Chow Mein lists 29 ingredients on its label
29 89th percentile a longer ingredient list than 89% of the 63,434 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
- 3,888 products (6%)
- 2–4
- 7,927 products (12%)
- 4–6
- 8,831 products (14%)
- 6–8
- 7,029 products (11%)
- 8–10
- 6,313 products (10%)
- 10–12
- 4,193 products (7%)
- 12–14
- 3,461 products (5%)
- 14–16
- 3,042 products (5%)
- 16–18
- 2,501 products (4%)
- 18–20
- 2,052 products (3%)
- 20–22
- 1,820 products (3%)
- 22–24
- 1,760 products (3%)
- 24–26
- 1,622 products (3%)
- 26–28
- 1,604 products (3%)
- 28–30
- 1,363 products (2%)
- 30–32
- 1,200 products (2%)
- 32–34
- 1,076 products (2%)
- 34–36
- 902 products (1%)
- 36–38
- 644 products (1%)
- 38–40
- 540 products (1%)
- 40 and above
- 1,666 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
Full Ingredient List
Cabbage, Enriched Wheat Flour, Water, Onion, Soybean Oil, Celery, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Rice Wine, Wheat, Caramel Color, Sesame Oil, Wheat Gluten, Canola Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Dextrose, Sugar, Malted Barley Flour, Monoglycerides, Datem, L-cysteine Hydrochloride, Ascorbic Acid, Enzyme, Modified Cornstarch, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Carbonate, Salt, Sodium Carbonate, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Potassium Bicarbonate
Other products containing Rice Wine
Rice Wine is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 330 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
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.
Related
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.
