We counted additives in the 3,000 US packaged foods with the most scans on Open Food Facts, then in every US product on Open Food Facts that lists them. The two counts point to different additives, and a parent should know both.
TL;DR
- Of the 3,000 most scanned US packaged foods, 1,532 list at least one additive, and 702 of those (45.8%) carry one our table flags for young children.
- In those 3,000, the flagged additive met most is a phosphate: calcium phosphates (E341), in 7% of the products with a list. Across all 267,685 US products on Open Food Facts that list additives, it is Red 40 (E129), in 10.3%.
- A Sito scan names the additives in the product in your hand and scores it for your child's age.
Check the product in your hand with Sito
Sito is our app. Scan a barcode and it shows a score out of 100 for your child's own age, stricter under 6. The classes behind that score come from our public table of 253 additives with 597 citations, so you can read why any row is flagged. Then log the product into your child's day.
Every class in this study comes from that same table, which anyone can read at sito.kids/additives.
Check the product in your hand
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
What we found in the 3,000 most scanned US products
Of the 3,000, 1,532 (51.1%) list at least one additive. Every share in this section is of those 1,532.
The five additives met most often all carry no risk class in our table: lecithins in 27%, citric acid in 24.4%, sodium carbonates in 16.7%, pectins in 7.6% and xanthan gum in 7.1%. The median product with a list carries 2 additives our table rates.
No flagged additive is in more than 7% of these products. Yet 702 of them (45.8%) carry at least one additive our table flags for young children. 569 (37.1%) carry one we class high or moderate risk, and 484 (31.6%) carry a high one.
| Flagged additive | E number | Our class | Share of the 1,532 products with a list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium phosphates | E341 | high | 7% |
| Glycerol | E422 | low | 6% |
| Ammonia caramel | E150c | moderate | 5% |
| Potassium phosphates | E340 | high | 4.9% |
| Diphosphates | E450 | high | 4.2% |
| Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) | E466 | low | 4.2% |
Three of the six are phosphates, which our table files as acidity regulators, and one is CMC, a thickener. The only color on the list is ammonia caramel. Red 40, Yellow 5 and Blue 1 are not among the ten flagged additives met most here.
Across every US product that lists additives, the dyes lead
The 3,000 are the most scanned slice of the shelf. So we also counted every US product in the same file that lists at least one additive: 267,685 of them. Here 154,554 (57.7%) carry an additive our table flags for young children. 139,434 (52.1%) carry a high or moderate one, and 107,995 (40.3%) carry a high one. The median product carries 3 rated additives.
| Flagged additive | E number | Our class | Share of the 267,685 US products with a list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red 40 (Allura Red AC) | E129 | moderate | 10.3% |
| Ammonia caramel | E150c | moderate | 9.2% |
| Yellow 5 (Tartrazine) | E102 | moderate | 8.9% |
| Blue 1 (Brilliant Blue FCF) | E133 | low | 7.9% |
| Carrageenan | E407 | high | 7.3% |
| Calcium phosphates | E341 | high | 6.8% |
So the two views differ. In the most scanned products a phosphate leads, and Red 40 misses the flagged top ten. Across the whole catalog, four of the six flagged additives met most are colors, and Red 40 comes first.
For a parent, that means "the most common additive" depends on which products you count. The label on the food your child eats often is the one that matters. On a US label, look for two families: dyes by name, such as Red 40, Yellow 5 and Blue 1, and phosphates, such as calcium phosphate, potassium phosphate or phosphoric acid.
How the US compares with our first, worldwide sample
Our first edition, published September 21, took the 3,000 most scanned products in our food database, ranked by Open Food Facts' own scan counts. Its sample leaned French: of its top 3,000, 2,343 were sold in France and 120 in the US when we checked on September 26.
| Sample | Products with an additive list | Share with a flagged additive | Flagged additive met most |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 most scanned US products | 1,532 | 45.8% | Calcium phosphates (E341), 7% |
| Every US product with a list | 267,685 | 57.7% | Red 40 (E129), 10.3% |
| 3,000 most scanned worldwide, mostly sold in France | 1,506 | 25.1% | Diphosphates (E450), 4.9% |
A phosphate led both samples of 3,000.
What a flag means
A flag in our table is set only where a regulator's own exposure work shows toddlers or children near or over the limit, or where a regulator used child-specific wording. It does not say one serving harms a child. We call no product in this study unsafe, and we name no brand.
The phosphates' class comes from one document. In 2019 the European Food Safety Authority re-evaluated phosphates and set a group limit. Its panel wrote (EFSA Journal 2019;17(6):5674) that it "derived a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) for phosphates expressed as phosphorus of 40 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day and concluded that this ADI is protective for the human population."
Then it checked how much people actually get. In the same opinion the panel noted that "in the estimated exposure scenario based on analytical data exposure estimates exceeded the proposed ADI for infants, toddlers and other children at the mean level, and for infants, toddlers, children and adolescents at the 95th percentile."
The words that matter are mean level. The panel named children at the average, not only the heaviest eaters. That is why every phosphate on this page sits in our high class.
Each additive in the tables links to its own page, with the finding behind its class. Our guide to E numbers in kids' food explains the classes.
How we counted
- The US sample. A product counts as sold in the US when Open Food Facts contributors tag it that way, in the countries_tags field. We took the 3,000 with the most Open Food Facts scans, from the database file we downloaded on August 26, 2026.
- The US catalog. Every US product in the same file that lists at least one additive: 267,685.
- The denominator. Every share is of products that list at least one additive. A product with no list may have none, or a gap in its record.
- A floor. Sub-variant tags our table does not rate, such as en:e322i under lecithins, count as unrated. So every flagged share is the lowest it can be.
- The classes. Both editions use our public table of 253 additives and 597 citations, version v1.3. The classes are ours; the finding behind every flagged row is a named regulator's. How they feed the score is on our score page.
- No user data. We computed the US edition on our own machine from the open data file, not from any user data. Neither edition uses child, meal or log data.
- The worldwide edition. The 3,000 most scanned products in our food database on September 21, 2026, with the same table and rules.
Updated September 27, 2026: we added the US edition, because the first version's ranking made its sample mostly French. The first version's numbers are unchanged, and a September 26 fix to its wording is noted in its file.
For journalists and researchers
The data is public: the US edition and the worldwide edition, each as the script wrote it. Every study figure on this page is in one of them. Quote a share with its denominator and date, for example: 45.8% of the 1,532 products that list an additive, among the 3,000 US packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts (file of August 26, 2026). For the list behind a figure, or a question about the method, write to berkay@sitonutri.com and we will answer.
Frequently asked questions
How many products did you check?
For the US edition, the 3,000 packaged foods sold in the US with the most Open Food Facts scans, from the database file we downloaded on August 26, 2026. Of those, 1,532 (51.1%) list at least one additive, and 702 of them (45.8%) carry one our table flags for young children. We also counted all 267,685 US products in the same file that list additives. The first, worldwide edition counted 3,000 products, mostly sold in France.
Why was the first edition mostly French?
Its ranking was Open Food Facts' own scan count. Of its top 3,000, 2,343 were sold in France and 120 in the US when we checked on September 26. So on September 27 we added the US edition: the same table and the same rules, on products sold in the US.
Is Red 40 the most common flagged additive in US food?
Across all 267,685 US products in the file that list additives, yes. Red 40 (E129) is in 10.3% of them, ahead of ammonia caramel at 9.2% and Yellow 5 at 8.9%. Among the 3,000 US products scanned most, it is not one of the ten flagged additives met most; calcium phosphates (E341) lead there, in 7%. Which one your child meets depends on the foods in your cart, so read those labels.
Is an additive on this list unsafe?
No product in this study is called unsafe. A flag in our table means a named regulator set a limit and raised a question about children's exposure. For the phosphates, EFSA's 2019 opinion reported exposure "exceeded the proposed ADI for infants, toddlers and other children at the mean level" (EFSA Journal 2019;17(6):5674). The same opinion concluded that the limit itself "is protective for the human population". Read the label, notice what your child eats often, and scan it in Sito to see the score for your child's age.
Where do the risk classes come from?
The classes are ours. The reason behind each flagged row is a named regulator's, quoted from its own opinion. They live in our public table of 253 additives with 597 citations, at sito.kids/additives, and 137 of the 253 rows carry no risk class at all. For monosodium glutamate, for example, the EFSA panel in 2017 derived "a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 30 mg/kg bw per day, expressed as glutamic acid, for glutamic acid and glutamates (E 620-625)" and noted that "in the non-brand-loyal scenario, the mean exposure exceeded the dose which has been associated with the MSG symptom complex (> 42.9 mg/kg bw per day) in toddlers and children" (EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910).
Sources
- Sito additive table, 253 additives with 597 citations, CSV and JSON download: sito.kids/additives
- The US edition, as the script wrote it: sito.kids/data/additive-study-us-2026-09-27.json
- The worldwide edition, as the script wrote it: sito.kids/data/additive-study-2026-09-21.json
- Open Food Facts product database, file downloaded on August 26, 2026 (its address is in the US edition's data file), under the ODbL
- EFSA, Re-evaluation of phosphoric acid-phosphates, di-, tri- and polyphosphates (E 338-341, E 343, E 450-452) as food additives and the safety of proposed extension of use, EFSA Journal 2019;17(6):5674: doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5674, full text PMC7009158
- EFSA, Re-evaluation of glutamic acid (E 620), sodium glutamate (E 621), potassium glutamate (E 622), calcium glutamate (E 623), ammonium glutamate (E 624) and magnesium glutamate (E 625) as food additives, EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910: doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4910, full text PMC7009848