ALSOFOUNDINRed 40 Allura Red AC
Legal in the US. Child-behavior warning in Europe.
Open file →Case Index · AFI-001
The Ingredient Files
Every additive on this board has a file: what it is, why it's in your food, and where in the world it's restricted. Open a file, read the evidence, decide for yourself.
Approved ≠ Safe. Not Approved ≠ Unsafe.
Most Wanted
The files everyone opens firstEU Warning Label
Legal in the US. Child-behavior warning in Europe.
IARC Group 2B
WHO calls it a 'possible carcinogen.' The FDA disagrees.
Under Debate
Seaweed-derived. The gut-inflammation fight won't die.
Banned in EU
Out of EU food since 2022. Still whitening US candy and icing.
Myth Corrected
The panic was wrong. The labeling rules still aren't.
Trade Secret
Two words that can hide dozens of undeclared ingredients.
Colors
7 filesYellow 5 Tartrazine
The original 'hyperactivity' dye — warning-labeled across the EU.
Open file →Yellow 6 Sunset Yellow FCF
Same EU warning label as Yellow 5. Same silence on US boxes.
Open file →Red 3 Erythrosine
FDA revoked it in 2025 — 35 years after pulling it from cosmetics.
Open file →Titanium Dioxide TiO₂
Out of EU food since 2022. Still whitening US candy and icing.
Open file →Blue 1 Brilliant Blue FCF
Cleared on both sides of the Atlantic — so far.
Open file →Caramel Color E150a
The soda industry changed its recipe over one state's warning label.
Open file →Preservatives
8 filesPotassium Bromate Bromated flour
Banned in the EU, UK, Canada, and China. Still in US flour.
Open file →BHA Butylated hydroxyanisole
Keeps chips fresh. Listed as 'possibly carcinogenic to humans.'
Open file →BHT Butylated hydroxytoluene
BHA's sibling — restricted in parts of Europe and Japan.
Open file →Sodium Nitrite Curing salt
Cures bacon pink. Can form nitrosamines at high heat.
Open file →Sodium Benzoate Benzoate of soda
Fine alone. Combined with vitamin C, it can form benzene.
Open file →TBHQ tert-Butylhydroquinone
Potent enough that the FDA caps it at 0.02% of a food's oil.
Open file →Sulfites Sulphites
The FDA banned these from salad bars in 1986 — after deaths.
Open file →Calcium Propionate Calcium propanoate
Naturally in Swiss cheese. One Australian study keeps the file open.
Open file →Sweeteners
6 filesAspartame NutraSweet
WHO calls it a 'possible carcinogen.' The FDA disagrees.
Open file →Sucralose Splenda
600× sweeter than sugar. Gut-microbiome questions still open.
Open file →Acesulfame K Acesulfame potassium
Almost always blended — so you never taste it working.
Open file →Saccharin Sweet'N Low
Once carried a US cancer warning. Quietly un-warned in 2000.
Open file →High-Fructose Corn Syrup HFCS
'Generally recognized as safe' since the '80s. The debate never ended.
Open file →Erythritol Sugar alcohol
Twenty years as the 'safe' sugar alcohol — until the 2023 clotting study.
Open file →Emulsifiers & Thickeners
5 filesCarrageenan Irish moss extract
Seaweed-derived. The gut-inflammation fight won't die.
Open file →Polysorbate 80 Tween 80
Keeps ice cream creamy. Microbiome studies keep raising flags.
Open file →CMC Carboxymethylcellulose
Thickens everything — now linked to gut-barrier questions.
Open file →BVO Brominated vegetable oil
Banned in 2024 — after 50+ years in citrus sodas.
Open file →Propylparaben Propyl p-hydroxybenzoate
A paraben in your pastry. The EU said no back in 2006.
Open file →Flavor Enhancers
2 filesMSG Monosodium glutamate
The panic was wrong. The labeling rules still aren't.
Open file →Natural Flavors Natural flavoring
Two words that can hide dozens of undeclared ingredients.
Open file →Fats & Oils
2 filesPartially Hydrogenated Oils PHOs
Denmark banned it in 2003. America finished in 2018.
Open file →Mono- and Diglycerides Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids
They are fats. They legally don't count as fat.
Open file →Processing Aids
2 filesAzodicarbonamide ADA
Banned in the EU, Australia, and Singapore. Legal in US flour.
Open file →Sodium Phosphates Sodium tripolyphosphate
How chicken can be a fifth salt water and still be chicken.
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