Ingredient Evidence Library
Ingredient evidence, one entry at a time.
Plain-language explainers for individual food and cosmetic ingredients. Each entry shows what NordicScan's published method flags, the reasons and signals behind each flag, and the sources it rests on — so you can do your own research.
Building in the open
We're publishing this library through August 2026. Entries go live as their evidence is assembled and checked against our published method. New to a product on the shelf? The app builds an ingredient analysis in minutes — usually within minutes.
Browse the library
Ingredient entries
Entries are organised A–Z, with food and cosmetic views where an ingredient's concern differs by use. As entries publish, they appear here.
- Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) — Moderate concern
- Aspartame — Moderate concern
- Azodicarbonamide (ADA) — Varies by use
- BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) — Varies by use
- BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) — Moderate concern
- Brilliant Blue FCF (Blue 1) — Lower concern
- Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) — Higher concern
- Calcium propionate — Lower concern
- Caramel colour class IV (E150d) — Moderate concern
- Carbon black (CI 77266) — Lower concern
- Carboxymethylcellulose (cellulose gum) — Moderate concern
- Carrageenan — Moderate concern
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) — Varies by use
- DMDM hydantoin — Moderate concern
- Erythritol — Moderate concern
- Formaldehyde — Varies by use
- Fragrance / parfum — Moderate concern
- High-fructose corn syrup — Moderate concern
- Homosalate — Moderate concern
- Hydroquinone — Varies by use
- Indigotine (Blue 2) — Lower concern
- Lead acetate (hair dye) — Higher concern
- Methylisothiazolinone (MIT) — Varies by use
- Monosodium glutamate (MSG) — Moderate concern
- Octinoxate — Varies by use
- Oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) — Higher concern
- p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) — Moderate concern
- Parabens — Moderate concern
- PFAS in cosmetics — Higher concern
- Phenoxyethanol — Moderate concern
- Phosphate additives (sodium phosphates) — Moderate concern
- Polysorbate 80 — Moderate concern
- Potassium bromate — Varies by use
- Quaternium-15 — Higher concern
- Red 3 (Erythrosine) — Varies by use
- Red 40 (Allura Red AC) — Moderate concern
- Retinol — Moderate concern
- Saccharin — Moderate concern
- Sodium benzoate — Moderate concern
- Sodium nitrite — Higher concern
- Sucralose — Moderate concern
- Sunset yellow FCF (Yellow 6) — Moderate concern
- Talc — Varies by use
- Tartrazine (Yellow 5) — Moderate concern
- TBHQ — Moderate concern
- Titanium dioxide — Varies by use
- Toluene — Moderate concern
- Triclocarban — Higher concern
- Triclosan — Varies by use
- Xylitol — Moderate concern
Thin-evidence ingredients
These don’t yet meet our bar for a standalone page (unique scoped verdict + independent sources or a regulator/hazard/split signal), so they render here as cards.
A common humectant; our method's current state: Excellent. Limited standalone evidence, so it renders as a card.
A high-search carbohydrate ingredient, but only one narrow primary source cell in this tranche; expected to render as a hub card.
A common preservative with a narrow US status cell; authored honestly thin and expected to render as a hub card.
US food-additive status cell (21 CFR 172.822) only; the cosmetic-use question is not yet reviewed in this snapshot.
A high-search sweetener class with one narrow FDA source cell in this tranche; intentionally authored as a hub card unless the uniqueness gate upgrades it.
A common thickener; our method's current state: Excellent. Limited standalone evidence, so it renders as a card.
Evidence snapshot geo-wave1-evidence-snapshot-2026-07-08 · Reviewed 2026-07-08 · Scoring engine det_v3.
How each entry is built
Evidence first, verdict second.
What the ingredient is, and where it commonly appears in food or cosmetics.
Which concerns our published method flags for this ingredient, and the reasons behind each flag — with the evidence sources shown.
When an ingredient's concern differs between food and cosmetic use — or between regulators — the entry shows each view separately, never one blended verdict.
Do your own research
See what's in the products you actually buy.
These explainers answer the ingredient question. The app answers the next one: scan a product and see how its ingredient information lines up with the concerns that matter to you.