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Food additives, explained in plain English.

What EFSA, the FDA, FSSAI and the WHO actually say about the ingredients on your labels — including where they disagree — and how LabelCop scores each one. New guides added every week.

Colours

Titanium dioxide (E171)Banned in the EU, permitted in the US and India, cleared by the WHO — the full story. Red 40 / Allura Red (E129)EU warning label, US voluntary phase-out, permitted in India — why regulators split on one red dye. Caramel colour (E150a–d)Four different additives under one name — two contain 4-MEI, listed as a carcinogen in California but cleared by EFSA and the FDA. Tartrazine (E102 / Yellow 5)Banned nowhere — yet the EU makes it carry a child-behaviour warning, the US wants it gone by end of 2026, and it's the only dye American labels must name. Sunset yellow (E110)Banned nowhere — yet the EU makes it carry a child-behaviour warning and the US is asking manufacturers to drop it. Why one orange dye splits regulators. Red 3 / Erythrosine (E127)The US banned it from food in 2025, the EU allows it only in cherries, and India still permits it in sweets — one of the widest regulator splits on the shelf. Ponceau 4R (E124)Never approved for food in the US, permitted in the EU with a child-behaviour warning, permitted in India with none — and EFSA's safe daily limit is nearly six times stricter than the WHO's. Quinoline yellow (E104)Permitted in the EU with a child-behaviour warning, not permitted in US food, and not on India's list of eight permitted synthetic colours — while EFSA's and the WHO's daily limits differ six-fold. Carmoisine (E122)The rare colour where EFSA and the WHO agree on the number — yet the EU makes it carry a child-behaviour warning, India permits it with none, and the US never approved it for food.

Sweeteners

Aspartame (E951)The world's most argued-about sweetener — what the IARC classification actually means. High-fructose corn syrupBanned nowhere, yet under FDA review and linked to fatty liver — what "legal" really means here. Sucralose (E955)Permitted by the FDA, EFSA and FSSAI — but the WHO says don't use it to lose weight. Why "safe" and "recommended" differ. Acesulfame K (E950)EFSA raised its safe limit in 2025 and everyone permits it — yet the WHO says don't rely on it. When "safe" and "good for you" split. Erythritol (E968)Legal everywhere — but the EU set a daily limit in 2023 and found most people already exceed it, while the heart research stays unresolved. Stevia (E960)The purified extract is permitted almost everywhere — the whole leaf isn't allowed in the US, EFSA refused to raise the limit, and India bars it from chocolate. Saccharin (E954)It carried a US cancer warning for 23 years — then the science was walked back and EFSA raised its safe limit in 2024. Yet the WHO still says don't rely on sweeteners. Neotame (E961)The aspartame cousin most people have never heard of — permitted everywhere, safe limit raised five-fold by EFSA in 2025, yet the WHO says don't rely on sweeteners for weight control. Cyclamate (E952)Banned from US food since 1970 — yet the EU permits it within limits, Canada allows it only as a table-top sweetener, and it's not on India's permitted list. The sharpest regulator split among sweeteners. Xylitol (E967)The one sweetener the EU authorised a health claim for — on a pack that also has to carry a laxative warning. Cleared on a 1983 judgement, and the heart research came four decades later. Sorbitol (E420)It holds the top safety rating regulators give and has no daily limit anywhere — yet the EU, the US and India all still make the pack carry a laxative warning.

Preservatives

Sodium benzoate (E211)Legal everywhere — but the EU and WHO disagree fourfold on the daily limit, and one common pairing forms benzene. Sodium nitrite (E250)Legal in bacon and ham everywhere — yet the WHO calls processed meat cancer-causing and the EU cut the limits in 2025. Class II preservatives (India)One Indian label term covering nine different chemicals with nine different verdicts — plus a one-preservative-only rule no other regulator has. Sulphites (E220–E228)Permitted everywhere within limits — but EFSA withdrew the safe daily limit in 2022 while the WHO kept it, and they're the one additive that's also a declarable allergen. EDTA (E385)Permitted within limits everywhere, on a safe daily limit set in 1973 — and EFSA reopened the file in 2024 asking for genotoxicity data.

Antioxidants

BHA & BHT (E320/E321)Two antioxidant cousins — one carries a cancer classification the other doesn't, and the FDA reopened both in 2026. TBHQ (E319)"Banned in Europe" is a myth — but it's tightly limited everywhere, and EFSA says children can exceed the safe limit. Propyl gallate (E310)The last gallate on the EU list — its two cousins were removed in 2018 when no safety data arrived, and EFSA and the WHO disagree nearly threefold on the safe daily limit.

Flavour enhancers

MSG (E621)Cleared by the WHO, given a daily limit by the EU, warning-labelled in India — why regulators split on umami. Natural flavoursPermitted everywhere, disclosed nowhere — one class name that can cover a mixture of unnamed substances. Why "natural" isn't the whole story.

Emulsifiers & thickeners

Emulsifiers (E471, E466, E433)Approved by every regulator — yet EFSA's own numbers put children over the limit for several, and the human research arrived after the approvals. Carrageenan (E407)GRAS in the US, cleared by the WHO — but pulled from EU infant formula and only temporarily approved by EFSA. Why "legal" isn't the whole story. MaltodextrinCleared by every regulator with no daily limit — yet it spikes blood sugar faster than table sugar. Why "safe" isn't the same as "good for you". Soy lecithin (E322)The rare additive every regulator agrees on — so why does it still belong on a label check? Allergen rules, unstated sources, and the veg/non-veg gap. Xanthan gum (E415)No daily limit anywhere — yet the FDA drew one hard line, and it's the additive people blame most for bloating. Where approval ends and tolerance begins. Carboxymethylcellulose (E466)Permitted by every regulator — but a human feeding trial linked it to stomach discomfort and gut-bacteria changes, and EFSA has asked for new safety data. Polysorbate 80 (E433)Permitted by every regulator — but a 2015 Nature study found it changed gut bacteria and caused gut inflammation in mice, and EFSA's own numbers put toddlers essentially at the daily limit. Brominated vegetable oil (BVO / E443)The US banned it from food in 2024 over possible thyroid effects — 54 years after the WHO's experts said it shouldn't be used. The EU, UK and India never permitted it.

Oils & fats

Palm oil & palmoleinBanned nowhere — but the WHO says limit it and the EU caps two refining contaminants the US and India don't. Hydrogenated oils & trans fatThe US banned partially hydrogenated oils from food in 2018; the EU and India set a ceiling instead and Great Britain set none — and a label can still print "0 g trans fat" while the ingredients list says otherwise.

Other

Potassium bromate (E924)Banned in India, the EU, UK, Canada, China and Brazil — still legal in US bread. Why most of the world walked away from one flour additive. Citric acid (E330)Permitted everywhere with no daily limit — so we don't flag it. But it isn't made from lemons, and the emulsifier E472c that shares its name is a different story. Phosphates (E338–E341)Permitted everywhere — but EFSA's safe daily limit is nearly half the WHO's, children already exceed it, and it doesn't cover the 1 in 10 with reduced kidney function. Aluminium additives (E520–523, E541)Permitted everywhere — but EFSA and the WHO disagree twofold on the safe weekly limit, frequent consumers can exceed it, and the EU cut the permitted uses in 2012. Azodicarbonamide (E927a)The "yoga mat chemical" — permitted in US bread at 45 ppm, not on the permitted list in the EU, UK, India, Australia or Singapore, and reopened by the FDA in May 2026.
Coming next: silicon dioxide (E551), disodium inosinate & guanylate (E631/E627), brilliant blue (E133), mannitol (E421) — one new guide every weekday.
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