Michelina's Zap Ems, Szechwan-style Vegetables & White Chicken In Sauce With Pasta

Bellisio Foods Inc · Frozen Dinners & Entrees · barcode 00073369060305

What stands out

From the label
The ingredients list BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), which has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: West Virginia ban from 2028. Details

Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
Additives1 ingredient has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: West Virginia ban from 2028. Which
TypicalFDA's tests of frozen dinners & entrees show what's typical. See levels

Additives with restrictions somewhere

From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2021-10-28). Recipes change, so check the package you have.

Rules that apply to more than one of these

US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows it as a preservative. Source. Applies to all of them.
EU: Allowed (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008) Source. Applies to all of them.
Texas: Warning label required from 2027-01-01 Labels developed on or after January 1, 2027 must warn that the product contains an ingredient not recommended for consumption in Australia, Canada, the EU or the UK. (SB 25 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
Louisiana: Banned in school meals from 2028-2029 school year Banned in Louisiana school food from the 2028-2029 school year (concession stands and vending machines exempt). (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
Louisiana: Warning label required from 2028-01-01 Products containing it must carry a QR code disclosure from January 1, 2028. (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) (E320)

West Virginia: Banned from 2028-01-01 Food containing it is treated as adulterated in West Virginia from January 1, 2028. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source

BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) (E321)

Only the shared rules above.

Typical for frozen dinners & entrees

FDA doesn't test this exact kind of food, so these are the closest foods it does test. Treat them as a rough guide.

Cadmium: typically 7.87 ppb (FDA, 9 samples, 2018-2020). A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 1.9 kg (4.2 lb) a day; an adult at about 8.7 kg (19 lb).
One serving (1 package, 213 g, from the label):
11% of a toddler's daily limit
2% of an adult's daily limit
Perchlorate: typically 2.67 ppb (FDA, 60 samples, 2008-2012). A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 4 kg (8.8 lb) a day; an adult at about 19 kg (42 lb).
One serving (1 package, 213 g, from the label):
5% of a toddler's daily limit
1% of an adult's daily limit
Lead, Mercury, Arsenic (total): usually below 4 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.

FDA samples behind these numbers

Lead in Chicken potpie, frozen, heated: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 4 ppb (2018-2020)
Lead in Chili con carne with beans, canned: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 2.2, highest 6.6 ppb (2018-2020)
Lead in Macaroni and cheese, prepared from boxed mix: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 4 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Chicken potpie, frozen, heated: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 6.63, highest 7.5 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Chili con carne with beans, canned: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 6.33, highest 7.3 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Macaroni and cheese, prepared from boxed mix: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 11.1, highest 13 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Chicken potpie, frozen, heated: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Chili con carne with beans, canned: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Macaroni and cheese, prepared from boxed mix: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Chicken potpie, frozen, heated: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 3 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Chili con carne with beans, canned: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 3.87, highest 5.3 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Macaroni and cheese, prepared from boxed mix: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 3 ppb (2018-2020)
Perchlorate in Chicken potpie, frozen, heated: found in 14 of 20 samples, average 1.97, highest 7 ppb (2008-2012)
Perchlorate in Chili con carne w/ beans, canned: found in 18 of 20 samples, average 2.39, highest 6 ppb (2008-2012)
Perchlorate in Macaroni and cheese, prepared from box mix: found in 19 of 20 samples, average 3.5, highest 5 ppb (2008-2012)

"Typically" is FDA's middle sample. Daily amounts use the long-run average and each chemical's daily limit (EPA reference dose, or FDA's level for lead) for a 33-lb toddler and a 154-lb adult. ppb = micrograms per kilogram of food. Source: FDA Total Diet Study.

Not tested

No published results for this product cover: Metals, Perchlorate, Phthalates (plastic softeners), Phthalate substitutes, Bisphenols. That means nobody has published a test, not that these are absent.

Ingredients (from the label)

COOKED ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (WATER, DURUM SEMOLINA [ENRICHED WITH NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID]), WATER, SOY SAUCE (WATER, WHEAT, SOYBEANS, SALT, LACTIC ACID, LESS THAN 1/10% SODIUM BENZOATE AS A PRESERVATIVE), BELL PEPPERS, CARROTS, SUGAR, COOKED WHITE CHICKEN (CHICKEN BREAST WITH RIB MEAT, WATER, 2% OR LESS OF SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN AND NATURAL FLAVOR), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, LESS THAN 1% OF GINGER PUREE (GINGER, WATER, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE), GARLIC PUREE (GARLIC, WATER, CITRIC ACID), SESAME SEED OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, MARGARINE (LIQUID AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, SALT, VEGETABLE MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHA & BHT ADDED TO PROTECT FLAVOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE AND VITAMIN D3 ADDED), SPRING ONIONS, XANTHAN GUM, SPICES.

From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2021-10-28. Labels change; check the package.

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