What’s actually in your food

Plain explanations of the additives and E-numbers on a food label, what the US, EU, UK and Canada each decided about them, and a source behind every claim.

429ingredient pages so far
4,535,553product labels read, from Open Food Facts
US · EU · UK · Canadafood additive rules checked

Four countries, side by side

Each additive page shows what the United States, the EU, the UK and Canada decided about it. Each answer links to that country's own list. If we couldn't find the additive on a country's list, we leave that country out rather than guess.

  • United States Permitted FDA 21 CFR 73.575
  • European Union Banned EUR-Lex Reg. (EC) 1333/2008
  • United Kingdom Permitted in Great Britain FSA retained EU law Northern Ireland follows EU rules: not permitted there.
  • Canada Permitted Health Canada · Colouring Agents

Status reflects the named register on the date checked. It is not a safety rating.

Open the titanium dioxide page →

Common questions about food additives

Pick a question to see the additives it covers.

What’s on every ingredient page

  1. 01

    Four countries, side by side

    The US, the EU, the UK and Canada, shown together wherever we found the additive on their lists. A country we couldn't match is left out, not marked as banned.

  2. 02

    A source for every line

    Every finding links to the paper it came from, and every rule links to the regulator's own list.

  3. 03

    We don't tell you what to eat

    We give no scores and no rankings. Each page reports what the studies found and what the rules say.

How we check all this →