What are food additives and E-numbers?
Food additives are ingredients added for a technical purpose — to preserve, color, sweeten, thicken or emulsify a food. They're regulated, but researchers don't view them all the same way, which is why Novaz rates each one by risk.
What E-numbers mean
In Europe, approved additives get an E-number, like E330 for citric acid. U.S. labels list additives by name instead — 'citric acid,' 'sodium nitrite' — so the same ingredient can look different on two packs.
The main groups
- E100s — colors
- E200s — preservatives
- E300s — antioxidants and acidity regulators
- E400s — thickeners, stabilizers and emulsifiers
- E600s — flavor enhancers
- E900s — sweeteners, glazing agents and others
How Novaz rates them
Each additive in a product gets a risk level — none, limited, moderate or high — shown on the product page. The riskier the additives, the more they lower the additive part of the score, and a single high-risk additive caps the whole score at 49.
FAQ
- Are all additives bad?
- No. Many, like citric acid or pectin, are rated no risk. The rating is about each specific additive, not additives in general.
- Why does an additive show no rating?
- Ratings are added additive by additive. One that isn't rated yet is shown as such and doesn't change the score.
Scan it before you buy it
Novaz: Food & Cosmetic Scanner scores food and cosmetics from 0 to 100, shows why, and suggests better picks from the same shelf — no ads, no account.
Download on the App Store