How We Rate Additives
Every additive in our database is assigned one of four safety ratings. This page explains what each rating means, where the underlying information comes from, and how we keep it current.
The Four-Tier Scale
Well-studied, widely used, and not associated with meaningful health concerns at typical dietary levels.
Recognized as safe by major regulatory bodies at typical use levels, with limited or no evidence of adverse effects in normal dietary amounts.
Approved for use, but with credible reasons for moderation — sensitivities in some individuals, effects at higher intakes, or mixed findings in the research.
Either banned or under active regulatory reconsideration in at least one major market, or associated with clear, documented health risks.
Our Sourcing Approach
Each additive page cites its underlying sources directly — regulatory assessments from bodies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and published research where relevant — in a dedicated References section, rather than burying citations in body text.
The safety rating itself is stored as real, structured data on every page — not just conveyed through the gauge graphic — so it reads the same way to a person, a screen reader, and a search engine.
Our Review Process
Additive entries follow one consistent template and schema, so updating a field — a rating, a source, a formatting change — applies the same way across the whole database instead of requiring page-by-page edits.
Blog content is written and reviewed by the Eat or Avoid team rather than under an individual byline, and is cross-linked to the specific additive pages it references so you can always trace a claim back to its source.