Nutritionist Danielle Smiley asked her client to read the ingredients on a box of cheese crackers she ate almost every day. The client got to BHA and stopped.
“She had no idea what it was,” said Smiley, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Maryland. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) is a synthetic preservative the National Toxicology Program lists as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on animal studies. “She was eating multiple foods every day engineered for shelf stability,” Smiley said. “Consumers often assume that if something is sold in the U.S., it has already been thoroughly vetted for long-term health impact. In reality, regulation can move slower than evolving science.”
The cracker box story isn’t unusual. BHA still turns up in American cereals, chips, snack mixes and instant mashed potatoes. It’s one of many additives other countries decided years ago weren’t worth the risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned Red No. 3 last year, the first synthetic food dye removed from the U.S. market in decades, though manufacturers have until 2027 to comply. The list of additives still permitted in American food but restricted abroad is longer: titanium dioxide in candy and salad dressings, potassium bromate in commercial bread, synthetic dyes in nearly every aisle.
American food companies often sell two versions of the same product: one for the U.S., one for everywhere else. Jagdish Khubchandani, a public health professor at New Mexico State University, points to one reason. “When countries, including the USA, send items allowed in their respective countries to the EU, they comply with EU regulations,” Khubchandani said. “It’s almost like you can risk your own societies, but for business, you comply with the needs of other societies. The USA consumer is left to fend for themselves.”
Titanium dioxide is the first ingredient Khubchandani would pull from the shelves in the U.S. It’s a white pigment used in candies, frostings, gum and salad dressings. The EU banned it in 2022 after regulators concluded they could not rule out DNA damage. American manufacturers can still use it freely.
Nicole Avena, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine and author of “Sugarless,” came to the same conclusion. “It first hit my radar during a study that analyzed children’s snack foods and found it in products parents assumed were clean, which made the gap between perception and reality impossible to ignore,” Avena said.
Khubchandani questions why an ingredient with no nutritional purpose remains on shelves at all. “What could be its use in food?” Khubchandani said. “Can we not survive without it?”
The reason the U.S. allows it comes down to how American and European regulators decide what’s safe. “The EU uses a precautionary approach. If there’s credible evidence of risk, they restrict or ban the ingredient. On the other hand, the U.S. requires much stronger proof of harm before acting,” Avena said. “For shoppers, the takeaway is simple. Allowed doesn’t always mean ideal, so reading ingredient lists matters more in the U.S. than many people realize.”
Check the label on a loaf of commercial sandwich bread or a pack of hamburger buns for potassium bromate. It is banned across the European Union, Canada, the U.K., Brazil and dozens of other countries. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies it as a possible carcinogen. But it’s still permitted here and commonly used.
Kezia Joy, a registered dietitian, raises it with almost every client who eats packaged bread. “I flag these ingredients since there isn’t any nutritional aspect to them,” Joy said. “If an ingredient is simply used as a texture agent or to improve shelf life, that’s a simple option for limiting usage without affecting your nutritional intake.”
Bread isn’t the only product hiding additives most shoppers don’t expect. Coffee creamer surprises even Avena’s colleagues. “People think they’re choosing a simple dairy product, but many are essentially emulsifier-stabilized desserts in disguise,” she said. “The shocker is how often a vanilla or original creamer contains multiple gums, artificial sweeteners and colorants that never appear on the front label.”
Synthetic dyes appear across the supermarket. Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 1 turn up in cereals, sodas, sweets and frozen desserts. The EU requires warning labels on products containing them, citing research linking them to behavioral changes in children.
For nutritionist Sarah Otto, co-founder of Goodness Lover, the issue isn’t any single item but what children eat across an entire day. “The real concern is cumulative daily exposure, especially for children,” Otto said. “I buy products colored with real food: beet juice, turmeric, spirulina, fruit concentrates. Available at any supermarket. Identical taste.
Sodium benzoate is another preservative shoppers rarely think about. Phillip Sain spent years reading the back of hot sauce bottles before launching his own line, Insain Hot Sauce. Sodium benzoate was on nearly every major label. The preservative is restricted in several countries because of what happens when it meets vitamin C in the bottle.
“When it combines with ascorbic acid, which is common in hot sauces and fruit-based products, it can form benzene, a known carcinogen,” Sain said. “The only reason it’s still in mass-market products is cost. It’s cheap and effective at extending shelf life, and the FDA hasn’t moved to restrict it despite the science.”
Years ago, Smiley stopped asking clients to overhaul their pantries. The swap that sticks, she says, is finding a cleaner version of the two or three products you eat most often. That version is usually on the same shelf.
Here’s what to look for instead of:
BHA: Instead, choose snacks preserved with vitamin E (look for “tocopherols” on the label) or rosemary extract. BHA-free alternatives are in the same aisles at similar prices.
Titanium dioxide: Instead, check the ingredient list on candy, gum and salad dressings. Most natural-brand and premium versions of the same products leave it out.
Potassium bromate: Instead, look for breads, buns and pizza dough labeled “no bromate” or “unbromated flour.” Most artisanal, organic, and European-style brands skip it entirely.
Synthetic dyes: Instead, look for products colored with beet juice, turmeric, paprika or fruit concentrate.
Sodium benzoate: Instead, look for hot sauces, dressings and sodas that are refrigerated, or brands that list vinegar or citric acid as the preservative instead.
Smiley’s client didn’t overhaul her diet. She swapped one box of crackers for another that used vitamin E instead of BHA. Same price, same shelf. “That became her framework,” Smiley said. “Look at the foods you eat most often and adjust there first.”
