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Ingredients

Additives and oils we track so you don't have to.

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69 ingredients visible

Annatto

Annatto is regulated as a color additive rather than a flavoring or preservative. In the U.S., FDA lists annatto extract as permanently listed and exempt from batch certification for foods, with good-manufacturing-practice use and heavy-metal and residual-solvent specifications. In 2026, FDA filed a color-additive petition that would remove methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, and ethylene dichloride as permitted extraction solvents for annatto extract and two other natural-color oleoresins; that is a manufacturing-specification issue, not a finding that annatto pigments are unsafe. In the EU, the older broad E 160b entry was replaced by Annatto bixin E 160b(i) and Annatto norbixin E 160b(ii), with food-category limits and specifications; Codex, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand also use category limits or good-manufacturing-practice permissions. Toxicology reviews do not point to a strong cancer or DNA-damage concern at permitted food uses. The main exposure caveat is norbixin: EFSA found the acceptable daily intake could be reached or exceeded for high-consuming toddlers and children in some modeled scenarios, although it judged the refined estimates likely conservative and not a health concern. A separate, uncommon issue is allergy-like hypersensitivity, including hives, swelling, and rare anaphylaxis.

Concern
Limited
Function
Coloring Agents
Updated
May 25, 2026

Beta-carotene / β-apo-8′-carotenal

These carotenoid colors are regulated separately but often appear as a practical label family: beta-carotene is E/INS 160a, while beta-apo-8′-carotenal is E/INS 160e. U.S. FDA regulations permit beta-carotene for coloring foods generally at good-manufacturing-practice levels, and beta-apo-8′-carotenal for foods generally up to 15 mg per pound of solid or semisolid food or 15 mg per pint of liquid food. European Union rules authorize them in listed food categories and set identity and purity specifications; Canada permits carotene and beta-apo-8′-carotenal in specified foods with conditions. The clearest biological caution is not an ordinary-food color signal: high-dose beta-carotene supplements increased lung-cancer risk in heavy smokers or asbestos-exposed groups in intervention trials, so regulators treat supplemental beta-carotene more cautiously than dietary carotenoids. JECFA later withdrew older beta-carotene group ADIs because the rat basis was not appropriate and because an ADI covering heavy smokers could not be ethically resolved, while it set a specific ADI for beta-apo-8′-carotenal of 0–0.3 mg/kg body weight/day. For food-color use, the concern is limited and exposure-related rather than evidence of proven harm at permitted uses.

Concern
Limited
Function
Coloring Agents
Updated
May 25, 2026

Calcium peroxide

Calcium peroxide is an inorganic peroxide, CaO2, classified internationally as INS 930 and used as a flour treatment agent. In dough, it acts as a strong oxidizer: it promotes gluten-strengthening reactions and can improve machinability in yeast-leavened bakery products. U.S. bread standards allow calcium peroxide only as part of a small combined limit for specified oxidizers, while Health Canada permits it in bread up to 100 ppm of flour when used alone and at good manufacturing practice levels in some unstandardized bakery products. The toxicology evidence is thin: JECFA’s 1960s review found no published toxicity data for calcium peroxide or bread made with treated flour and set no treatment level. The plausible hazard is concentrated oxidizer exposure—dust can irritate the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, mouth, or stomach—but that does not establish harm from regulated bakery use. The higher concern shown here comes from regulation, not from demonstrated human harm: China revoked calcium peroxide as a food additive and prohibited adding it to flour from May 1, 2011, stating it was no longer technologically necessary.

Concern
High
Function
Dough Conditioners
Updated
May 25, 2026

Calcium phosphates

Calcium phosphates are not one single molecule; E341/INS 341 covers monocalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, and tricalcium phosphate, while U.S. rules also list calcium phosphate as a GRAS multipurpose ingredient and nutrient source. They supply calcium and phosphate ions and are used for leavening, anticaking, texture, acidity control, and sometimes white coloring. Major reviews do not identify a strong genotoxicity, cancer, or developmental-toxicity signal at food-use levels. The practical safety issue is cumulative phosphorus exposure: phosphate salts add readily available phosphorus on top of natural dietary phosphorus, and EFSA set a group acceptable daily intake for phosphates while noting that some children/adolescents and regular supplement users may exceed it. The concern is more relevant for people with moderate or severe kidney impairment, who may have trouble clearing extra phosphorus. Reviewed regulations permit calcium phosphates with good-manufacturing-practice, food-category, or color-additive limits; no broad food ban was verified.

Concern
Limited
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026

Calcium stearoyl lactylate

Calcium stearoyl lactylate, also called calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, is the calcium salt form of stearoyl lactylic acids and is labeled in some markets as E 482 or INS 482(i). It is used mainly as an emulsifier, stabilizer, flour treatment agent, dough conditioner, whipping agent, or conditioning agent in bakery products, egg whites, toppings, and dehydrated potatoes. Regulators do not treat it as a broadly banned additive, but they do limit where and how much may be used. The main safety question is exposure rather than a strong demonstrated toxic effect: JECFA set an acceptable daily intake of 0–20 mg/kg body weight, while EFSA later set 22 mg/kg body weight per day for sodium and calcium stearoyl lactylates used singly or together. EFSA found low acute toxicity, no genotoxicity concern, and metabolism to lactic and stearic acids, but also noted limited direct reproductive and cancer data and modeled intakes above the ADI for some children and high consumers. A later Belgian exposure study was generally reassuring but still found a small percentage of children above the ADI.

Concern
Limited
Function
Emulsifiers
Updated
May 25, 2026

Cyclamate

Cyclamate is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener (~30× sweeter than sugar) used to replace sugar in “diet” or sugar-free foods. In the 1960s it was a common sweetener for low-calorie soft drinks, but it was banned in the United States in 1969 after high-dose rodent studies suggested a link to bladder cancer. Today, cyclamate is still approved in over 100 countries (as additive E952) including Canada and the European Union, with acceptable daily intake limits to ensure safety. Typical human consumption stays well below these limits, and scientific reviews have found no clear cancer risk in people. However, because a small fraction of ingested cyclamate is converted into cyclohexylamine – a metabolite that caused reproductive organ harm in animal tests at high doses – health authorities treat cyclamate with caution.

Concern
High
Function
Artificial sweetener

Dimethylpolysiloxane

Dimethylpolysiloxane (E 900 / INS 900a) is a silicone polymer used mostly as an antifoaming agent, especially where bubbling interferes with processing or frying. U.S., Canadian, Codex, EU, and Australia/New Zealand sources treat it as permitted only under conditions such as food-category limits, residue caps, or good-manufacturing-practice use. The strongest modern review found very limited absorption after oral intake, no genotoxicity concern, and no systemic adverse effects in tested species; EFSA set an ADI of 17 mg/kg body weight per day and estimated food-additive exposures below that value. JECFA keeps a lower ADI of 0–1.5 mg/kg body weight, showing that authorities do not use identical numerical margins, but this has not produced a broad ban in the reviewed jurisdictions. The remaining concern is narrow: animal corneal findings were judged local contact effects rather than systemic toxicity, and EFSA recommended tighter specifications for polymer size, cyclic siloxanes, and copper residues. For consumers, this is a low-concern additive when used within legal limits, not a nutrient or ingredient with a demonstrated health benefit.

Concern
Low
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026

Dipotassium phosphate

Dipotassium phosphate is the dibasic potassium salt of phosphoric acid and appears on labels as dipotassium phosphate, potassium phosphate dibasic, potassium phosphate, or within the E340/INS 340 potassium phosphates family. Regulators usually evaluate it with other inorganic phosphates because the body ultimately handles them as phosphate. FDA lists dipotassium phosphate as GRAS when used according to good manufacturing practice; Codex and European/UK rules allow potassium phosphates in specified uses, often with category limits expressed as phosphorus. EFSA’s 2019 review found no concern for genotoxicity or carcinogenicity, but set a group ADI of 40 mg/kg body weight per day as phosphorus and noted that total dietary phosphate exposure may exceed that value for some infants, toddlers, children, and high-consuming adolescents. The concern is cumulative phosphate load, not a unique poison-like effect of this salt. People with moderate to severe kidney impairment are a special case because reduced kidney function makes it harder to clear phosphate; high blood phosphate can contribute to mineral-bone imbalance and calcification. Ordinary permitted food uses are therefore a moderate, exposure-related concern rather than a broad warning for healthy adults.

Concern
Moderate
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026

Modified food starch

“Modified food starch” is a broad label for starches whose structure or behavior has been changed to improve texture, stability, solubility, freeze–thaw performance, or emulsification. U.S. rules permit “food starch-modified” when starch is treated only by listed acids, oxidants, esterifying or etherifying agents, enzymes, and related processes, with limits on treatment levels and some residues. Internationally, JECFA assigns modified starches a “not specified” ADI, and EFSA’s 2017 re-evaluation found no safety concern for the general population at reported uses and use levels. That does not mean every use is unconstrained: regulators control residual chemicals and purity specifications, and EU reviews have focused on infant and special-medical-food uses of starch sodium octenyl succinate and other modified starches where the available data were more limited. For most consumers, the concern is limited rather than a demonstrated toxicity problem; people with wheat allergy or gluten-sensitive conditions should check the source and relevant allergen or gluten labeling when the starch source is wheat.

Concern
Limited
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026

Monocalcium phosphate

Monocalcium phosphate, also called calcium dihydrogen phosphate or E341(i), is one member of the calcium phosphate additive group. U.S. FDA lists calcium phosphate (mono-, di-, and tribasic) as generally recognized as safe when used according to good manufacturing practice, while EU and Canadian rules permit calcium phosphates in specified food categories under stated use conditions, including numeric limits for some uses. Safety reviews treat this ingredient as part of overall phosphate exposure rather than as a uniquely hazardous compound. EFSA set a group acceptable daily intake for phosphates of 40 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day and JECFA lists a maximum tolerable daily intake of 70 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day for phosphates. EFSA reported no concern for genotoxicity or carcinogenicity, but found that total phosphate exposure can exceed its safe level in some children and high-intake adolescents, and that the ADI does not apply to people with moderate-to-severe kidney impairment. For most consumers, ordinary food use is a limited concern; the practical issue is cumulative phosphorus from many phosphate additives, especially for people managing kidney disease or high-phosphate diets.

Concern
Limited
Function
Dough Conditioners
Updated
May 25, 2026

Natamycin

Natamycin is a polyene macrolide antifungal: it binds ergosterol, a sterol in fungal cell membranes, so it inhibits molds and yeasts rather than bacteria. Food authorities generally permit it only in narrow uses with residue limits, especially cheese and selected cured-meat applications; the United States caps it at 20 ppm in finished cheese, while the European Union and Codex use surface-treatment limits for specified products. The main biological concern is exposure to an antifungal drug class through food and the possibility of selecting less-susceptible fungi or altering the gut fungal community. Current agency reviews do not show a strong signal at allowed food-use levels: JECFA in 2024 reaffirmed an ADI of 0–0.3 mg/kg body weight, found high-end dietary estimates below that value, concluded there was no concern for antimicrobial resistance, and judged gut-microbiome disruption risk low. EFSA’s older 2009 review also found no safety concern for surface use, but noted limitations in the older toxicity evidence. A peer-reviewed caution argued that higher-exposure, well-mixed uses such as beverages or yogurt could pose a greater resistance concern than surface treatment.

Concern
Limited
Function
Preservatives
Updated
May 25, 2026

Paprika and turmeric oleoresins

These oleoresins sit between spice extract and color additive: they carry natural pigments—capsanthin and capsorubin in paprika, and curcuminoids in turmeric—plus some flavor constituents. U.S. rules list paprika oleoresin and turmeric oleoresin as color additives exempt from batch certification and allow them for foods generally at good manufacturing practice levels, subject to standards of identity. JECFA set an acceptable daily intake for paprika extract used as a color based on total carotenoids and concluded estimated color-use exposure was below that level. For curcumin, the main coloring component of many turmeric preparations, JECFA set an acceptable daily intake of 0–3 mg/kg body weight per day; EFSA’s refined exposure work found possible exceedances in toddlers and children under some high-use scenarios, while adults were lower. The main toxicology concern is not proven harm from normal food-color use. It is a specific exposure-quality issue: high-dose turmeric oleoresin rodent studies showed gut irritation, thyroid changes, and equivocal tumor signals, and specifications control residual extraction solvents and trace metals. FDA is also reviewing petitions to remove three chlorinated extraction solvents from the related U.S. listings.

Concern
Limited
Function
Coloring Agents
Updated
May 25, 2026

Polysorbate 60

Polysorbate 60 is one member of the polysorbate emulsifier family, which regulators often assess together because the substances share similar structures and metabolic fate. In the United States it is permitted only for listed uses and maximum levels, including certain toppings, cakes and mixes, icings, confectionery coatings, dressings, shortenings/oils, dough-conditioned bakery products, beverage-mix foams, color dispersions, and frozen desserts. JECFA set a group ADI of 0–25 mg/kg body weight per day, while Japan’s Food Safety Commission set a lower group ADI of 10 mg/kg/day after treating high-dose diarrhea in rats as adverse. EFSA’s 2015 review reported low acute toxicity and no concern for genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, or developmental toxicity, but its toddler exposure estimate was very close to the group ADI under one refined scenario. The main modern uncertainty is gut biology: mouse and mechanistic studies with polysorbate 80 and related emulsifiers show microbiome, mucus-barrier, inflammation, and metabolic signals, but direct evidence that polysorbate 60 causes harm at ordinary food levels remains limited.

Concern
Limited
Function
Emulsifiers
Updated
May 25, 2026

Potassium iodate

Potassium iodate is an older oxidizing flour treatment agent. U.S. rules allow it only for bread at up to 0.0075% of flour weight, and Canada permits it in bread and unstandardized bakery products at 45 ppm of flour. It is also recognized internationally as INS 917 and can serve as a stable iodine source in iodized salt, a different use from strengthening dough. The main health question is dose control: iodate is largely converted to iodide, so the relevant biology is usually iodine intake and thyroid response, not a bromate-like cancer signal. Too much iodine can push susceptible people toward hypo- or hyperthyroidism, especially people with thyroid disease, iodine-deficient populations, older adults, fetuses, newborns, and some pregnant or lactating people. At regulated bread-use levels, evidence for direct human harm is limited; JECFA nevertheless says potassium iodate is not recommended for flour treatment while continuing to recognize iodate and iodide as iodine sources. Regulatory approaches differ: the U.S. and Canada allow narrow uses, while current EU/UK approved-additive lists do not include it for food-additive use.

Concern
High
Function
Dough Conditioners
Updated
May 25, 2026

Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol, also called propane-1,2-diol or E 1520, is used differently by region: the United States allows direct food use under good manufacturing practice with category-specific maximum levels, while the European Union generally treats E 1520 as an Annex III carrier or additive in additives, flavourings, enzymes, and nutrients, with carry-over limits in finished foods and beverages. Toxicology reviews do not show a strong genotoxicity, cancer, reproductive, or developmental signal at permitted food-use levels. The main biological signal is red-blood-cell damage seen in high-dose animal studies, especially dog and cat studies at gram-per-kilogram doses, while rat chronic studies used for the acceptable daily intake did not show adverse effects up to 2,500 mg/kg bw/day. EFSA kept the acceptable daily intake at 25 mg/kg bw/day and estimated high consumers below, but in some child scenarios close to, that level. Codex has requested an updated safety and exposure assessment for carrier use, including flavored beverages. For ordinary consumers, the concern is therefore limited and exposure-related rather than a demonstrated human food-use toxicity.

Concern
Limited
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026

Sodium erythorbate

Sodium erythorbate, also called sodium isoascorbate or E316, is the sodium salt of erythorbic acid, a stereoisomer of vitamin C. Regulators treat it primarily as an antioxidant: it slows oxidative color and flavor changes and, in cured meat, helps nitrite form the cured color more quickly. FDA’s food-substance inventory lists several technical effects, and U.S. meat rules, Canadian additive lists, EU rules, and Codex provisions permit it only in specified uses or under good manufacturing practice. The toxicology profile is mostly reassuring: JECFA set an ADI “not specified,” and EFSA kept the EU ADI at 6 mg/kg body weight/day after finding low acute toxicity, no genotoxicity concern, no carcinogenicity concern, and estimated dietary exposure below the ADI. The remaining concern is limited: one older high-dose rat study reported promotion of bladder lesions after the animals had already been exposed to a bladder carcinogen, EFSA noted missing reproductive and chronic toxicity studies and a possible issue for people with iron-overload disorders, and a 2026 observational study linked sodium erythorbate intake with higher cancer incidence. Those findings do not prove harm at ordinary food-use levels, especially because cured and processed-food patterns are hard to separate from the additive itself.

Concern
Limited
Function
Preservatives
Updated
May 25, 2026

Sodium nitrate

Sodium nitrate (E251/INS 251) is used in curing systems where nitrate serves as a reservoir for nitrite. That chemistry is useful because nitrite helps suppress dangerous microbes such as Clostridium botulinum and gives cured meat and fish their stable pink color and cured flavor. The safety question is exposure-dependent. EFSA and JECFA maintain an acceptable daily intake for nitrate, and EFSA concluded that nitrate exposure from additive use alone was a small share of total dietary nitrate and did not exceed the ADI. Total nitrate exposure from all sources—especially natural nitrate in vegetables and water—can exceed the ADI for some people, but that does not directly mean cured-food additive use is unsafe. The main toxicology concern is conversion of nitrate to nitrite, which can contribute to methemoglobin formation at sufficiently high exposure and can form N-nitroso compounds in foods or the stomach when nitrosating conditions and amine precursors are present. IARC classifies ingested nitrate or nitrite under conditions that lead to endogenous nitrosation as probably carcinogenic to humans. The EU has tightened use limits to reduce nitrosamine formation; the United States still permits specified uses with limits, and an Oklahoma bill proposing broader restrictions remains pending.

Concern
Moderate
Function
Preservatives
Updated
May 25, 2026

Sodium stearoyl lactylate

SSL is part of the stearoyl lactylate family, a class of additives that helps industrial doughs, whipped toppings, dips, sauces, and fat-water emulsions hold texture. In the United States, FDA permits it only under food-category limits, and international food-additive bodies list it as E 481/INS 481(i). Traditional toxicology reviews found low acute toxicity, no clear genotoxicity concern, and animal no-effect levels far above ordinary use levels, although older reviews noted data gaps and high-dose animal changes such as slower weight gain or higher relative liver weight. EFSA set a group ADI of 22 mg/kg body weight per day for sodium and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylates, while JECFA and Japan use 20 mg/kg body weight per day. EFSA’s exposure modeling found adults generally below that range, but some modeled child and toddler high-consumption scenarios could exceed it. A newer in vitro human-fecal-culture study also reported that SSL changed microbial populations and lowered butyrate production, but that is not proof of harm in people. Overall concern is limited and exposure-related, with no verified broad ban.

Concern
Limited
Function
Emulsifiers
Updated
May 25, 2026

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate is one member of the larger phosphate additive group. It can act as a sequestrant, pH-control agent, emulsifying salt, stabilizer, thickener, humectant, or raising agent, depending on the food. U.S. FDA lists sodium pyrophosphate/tetrasodium pyrophosphate as GRAS when used under good manufacturing practice, while Codex, Canada, and the EU permit it within defined uses, food-category limits, or purity specifications. The safety concern is mainly cumulative phosphorus exposure rather than a specific tetrasodium-pyrophosphate cancer or genotoxicity signal. EFSA set a group acceptable daily intake for phosphates expressed as phosphorus and concluded that total dietary exposure may exceed that level for some children and high consumers; it also noted that the intake guidance does not apply to people with moderate to severe kidney-function reduction. Reviews in nephrology and nutrition literature emphasize that inorganic phosphate additives are more readily absorbed than many naturally bound food phosphates and are most relevant for people with chronic kidney disease or very high processed-food phosphate exposure. For most consumers, the concern is limited and exposure-related rather than a proven harm from occasional permitted food use.

Concern
Limited
Function
Other
Updated
May 25, 2026