Which Food Additives Banned in Europe Are Still Allowed in the U.S.?

It might surprise you to learn that many food additives found in bread, baked goods, and candy manufactured in the United States are banned or restricted in Europe and other parts of the world because of potential health risks.

U.S. consumers generally assume that items on grocery store shelves have been vetted for safety, but a loophole in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval process means that 99 percent of new food chemicals aren’t evaluated before they are added to products.

How can an additive be considered a health risk in Europe but safe in America? Keep reading to find out more about compounds banned or restricted in Europe that are still found in foods commonly consumed in the United States.

Titanium Dioxide

Also known as E171, this food coloring is found in many products sold in the United States, including Skittles and Starburst candies, baked goods, soups, broths, sauces, and sandwich spreads. It appears on the ingredients label as either “artificial color” or “colored with titanium dioxide,” though the U.S. government does not require it to be listed as a separate ingredient.

European regulators have banned titanium dioxide since 2022 based on studies that have shown it to be “genotoxic,” says Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and adjunct associate professor within the department of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Genotoxicity is the ability of a chemical substance to damage DNA, which is the genetic material in all cells, and it may lead to carcinogenic, or cancerous, effects.

“Titanium dioxide is something that can build up over time — it doesn’t get excreted very well,” says Dr. Sathyanarayana, a former member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals.

Although a World Health Organization and United Nations group reviewed all the latest evidence in 2023 and concluded that titanium dioxide doesn’t pose a health risk, concerns remain. Several U.S. consumer advocacy groups, including the Center for Food Safety, are sponsoring a petition asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the chemical.

Potassium Bromate

This additive is used in white flour, bread, pizza crust, and rolls to make the dough rise higher. Most bromate rapidly breaks down to form bromide, which is harmless. However, bromate has been shown to cause cancer in animals, and trace amounts of the chemical may remain in bread, which could potentially pose a small health risk.Researchers have also found that exposure to potassium bromate causes mutations in yeast DNA, and that footprints of those same changes are found in samples of human esophageal, stomach, and colorectal cancer.Although that doesn’t mean the chemical directly causes cancer, scientists believe that eating foods that contain potassium bromate may expose the digestive tract in the same way — and that it might damage human DNA.

Potassium bromate has been banned in most countries around the world except for Japan and the United States. However, California banned the chemical in 2023, and 11 other states have introduced bills to ban several food additives, including potassium bromate.

Azodicarbonamide (ADA)

This additive (E927a) may appear as a whitening agent and dough conditioner in bread and packaged baked goods. It’s known as the “yoga mat” chemical because the additive is used to make yoga mats, too.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), critics of ADA believe that two potentially risky chemicals form when the chemical is baked. One of those, semicarbazide, doesn’t appear to pose a risk to humans, but the second breakdown product, urethane, is a recognized carcinogen.

Although the risk is small, azodicarbonamide isn’t necessary for the food supply, and some companies have stopped using it. Although the amount in processed food is generally small — 45 parts per million in dough — it’s enough to result in a European ban.

Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)

BHA and BHT work as preservatives to prevent foods that contain oils or fats from turning rancid.A study in the 1980s found that BHA caused cancer in the forestomach of rats, and as a result, the additive was classified “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

While more recent research suggests that the way that BHA causes cancer in mice is not relevant to humans, the IARC classification remains in place.

Additional studies that show BHA may be an endocrine (hormone) disruptor; it’s been linked to decreasing sperm quality in males and uterine weight in females. The Environmental Working Group recommends that consumers avoid consuming BHA.

BHT is the chemical cousin to BHA and ultraprocessed food manufacturers often use the two compounds together, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG).

There have been studies where rats fed BHT have developed liver and lung tumors. EWG recommends avoiding BHT, especially in combination with BHA.

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)

Some farmers give their cows bovine growth hormone to boost their herds’ milk production. “There are some brands of hormone-free dairy products available, but there are many that still contain them,” says Sathyanarayana.“The major concern is that there are hormone-dependent cancers — there is concern that if you’re exposed to those hormones, are you increasing your cancer risk down the line?” she explains.Not everyone agrees that bovine growth hormone poses a risk. “Some people will say that these hormones aren’t biologically active hormones that are getting transferred to the human body, but others would say that we don’t know because all of that data comes from animal studies, not human studies,” Sathyanarayana says.

Hormones affect almost every system in our body, so hormonal transfer could influence health, she explains. “Many of those hormones used are steroid hormones such as testosterone and androgen, which are found naturally in our bodies, but if you have higher concentrations of them, they could certainly be associated with health risks,” she says.While the FDA has concluded that there isn’t a significant difference in milk from cows treated with the hormones versus cows that aren’t, some food safety advocacy groups remain wary.

Food Dyes (Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Red No. 3, Red No. 40)

Manufacturers generally use synthetic food dyes so that the color of a food or candy looks more appetizing or “matches” its flavor profile.“We have some information that those dyes have been associated with hyperactivity and behavioral changes in kids. There’s not a huge amount of literature, but the small amount that we do have makes us concerned,” says Sathyanarayana.A review published in 2021 by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that federal guidelines for safe levels of intake of synthetic food dyes may not be enough to protect children’s behavioral health. The report concluded that “Consumption of synthetic food dyes can result in hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in some children, and that children vary in their sensitivity to synthetic food dyes.”

The report authors also point out that the guidelines for the FDA’s Acceptable Daily Intake levels (ADIs) are based on 35- to 70-year old studies; if newer research were used to revise those levels, they would be much lower.

A review of current evidence from human studies suggests a relationship between food dye exposure and negative behavior effects in children.

The EWG recommends avoiding all three of these synthetic dyes.

In 2023, California banned Red Dye No. 3 in food manufactured or sold in the state, and in 2024 the state banned additional food dyes from school foods, including Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3.

Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO)

This additive was once found in popular drinks like Mountain Dew and Gatorade, but pressure from the public, including an online petition from a Mississippi teenager, led Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to stop using BVO in their products.

In 2024, the FDA banned brominated vegetable oil after “the results of studies conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health found the potential for adverse health effects in humans.” Companies have until August 2, 2025, to reformulate, relabel, and stop selling products that contain BVO.

Consumer Preference Is Helping Reduce Food Additive Use
Manufacturers are really paying attention to some of these issues because now there are consumers who are saying, "We don’t want these things in our food," says Sathyanarayana. “Almost every manufacturer has a natural or alternative product line, or they have acquired one for their portfolio. I do think that there’s a trend toward paying attention to these kinds of things and hopefully trying to eliminate them when they can,” she says.

How to Minimize Potential Risks From Food Additives

The current regulatory system in the United States leaves much of the work of figuring out what’s safe or unsafe to the consumer, says Sathyanarayana.

She offers these tips:Opt for fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Try to focus on different kinds of fresh or frozen produce and move away from processed foods, Sathyanarayana says.“You have to be practical about it. We live in an industrialized world, people are working a lot, and we don’t have time to make everything from scratch. You can make a lot of good food from frozen ingredients where you don’t have to do all the washing and chopping that some fresh vegetables require,” she says.

Read product labels. “We’re putting a huge burden on consumers by asking them to read product labels — it’s really time consuming and hard. But if you are a label reader, selecting foods with fewer ingredients is typically the best way to go,” says Sathyanarayana.Snack bars are a good example of a product that can have many or very few ingredients. “I would recommend seeking out the bars that have just a handful of recognizable ingredients — nuts, nut butters, or fruits,” Sathyanarayana says.

Buy organic. Foods that are labeled “organic” can help take some of the guesswork out. In packaged foods, those given an organic designation are prohibited from using ingredients that “have an adverse effect on human health,” according to the EWG. Synthetic ingredients added to organic packaged foods must also be reviewed every five years.

If you want to avoid milk with added hormones, opt for organic (the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits the use of bovine growth hormones in organic milk), or that state “rBGH-free milk” or “rBST-free milk” or “from cows not supplemented with rBST” on the label.

Seek out resources to help you. Consumer advocacy groups such as CSPI and EWG provide lists of additives you should reduce or avoid.There are also phone apps available to help you make sure the foods you’re buying are safe — just search “food ingredients scanner” in the App Store. Two such apps are Sift Food Labels and Ingredio, which use pictures of food ingredients on the label or a bar code and alert you of any potentially risky additives.

Don’t fall into the ”all or nothing” trap. “Overall, when I talk with families and patients, we discuss what they can do to limit their exposure to processed foods and maximize nutrition and healthy eating,” says Sathyanarayana. You don’t have to be perfect, but you can try to eat fewer things that are highly processed and full of additives like ultra-spicy bright orange corn snacks, she adds.

The Takeaway

Many food additives banned in Europe, such as titanium dioxide and potassium bromate, are still allowed in the United States despite concerns over their potential health risks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new food chemicals leaves 99 percent of additives untested before entering the food supply, putting consumer safety at risk.
California and other states are beginning to regulate food additives, and food manufacturers are offering more products that don’t contain potentially harmful chemicals.