Ingredient Label Name Glossary
Look up ingredient label aliases such as E211, E171, lecithin, tartrazine, BHA, BHT, and Ace-K, with linked IngrediCheck profiles.
Intro
Ingredient labels often use codes, chemical names, shorthand, and source-specific terms instead of the name shoppers type into search. This hub maps common label aliases back to the ingredient profile that explains function, diet notes, safety context, and practical scan cues.
Why It Matters
Alias searches usually happen at the shelf: a shopper sees E211, Ace-K, tartrazine, or soy lecithin and needs the plain-English name before deciding whether the product fits their saved rules. A glossary hub keeps those exact-match label queries connected to sourced profiles instead of scattering authority across one-off posts.
Label alias lookup
Translate label names into ingredient profiles
Use this table as a fast translation layer. The linked profiles include the regulatory sources, diet notes, and related guides behind each alias.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A preservative used mostly in acidic drinks, sauces, condiments, and shelf-stable foods.
When to review it
Review it when saved rules flag preservatives, benzoates, or acidic beverages where formula context matters.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A white color and opacity additive used to brighten candies, icings, sauces, and supplements.
When to review it
Use it for cosmetic-additive preferences, EU-ban searches, and products where color is not essential to function.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
An emulsifier family where the source can matter more than the word lecithin by itself.
When to review it
Review the source for vegan, soy-free, egg-free, and allergen-sensitive household profiles.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A fermentation-derived thickener often used to give gluten-free and sauce products structure.
When to review it
Check the full product for gluten status and personal tolerance rather than treating xanthan gum as a gluten source.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A seaweed-derived thickener used in dairy alternatives, desserts, deli meats, and beverages.
When to review it
Review it when gut-sensitivity, low FODMAP, or dairy-alternative rules make texture aids worth tracking.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A high-intensity sweetener used in diet drinks, protein products, tabletop packets, and low-sugar foods.
When to review it
Compare sweetener systems when saved rules flag sugar-free products, frequent intake, or foods that will be heated.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A high-intensity artificial sweetener often paired with other sweeteners in zero-sugar products.
When to review it
Use it as a threshold clue in diet drinks, gum, protein products, and reduced-sugar snacks.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
An ultra-potent artificial sweetener used at very low levels in some reduced-sugar foods.
When to review it
Review it when a saved rule treats artificial sweeteners as a family rather than focusing only on sucralose or Ace-K.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A synthetic antioxidant preservative used to slow rancidity in fat-containing packaged foods.
When to review it
Review it in snacks, cereals, gum, oils, and shelf-stable products when simpler alternatives exist.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A synthetic antioxidant preservative that often appears in the same snack and cereal ecosystem as BHA.
When to review it
Track it as a preservative-pattern clue across repeat-purchase pantry foods.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A mold-inhibiting preservative used in bread, buns, tortillas, and other packaged baked goods.
When to review it
Review it in the bakery aisle when comparing long shelf life against simpler ingredient decks.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A paraben preservative with sharply different food-use status across major markets.
When to review it
Use it for preservative avoidance, EU-versus-U.S. status questions, and California Food Safety Act tracking.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A synthetic yellow dye used in snacks, drinks, dessert mixes, and brightly colored processed foods.
When to review it
Review it when saved rules flag petroleum-derived dyes or repeated exposure to dye-stacked products.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A synthetic orange-yellow dye used in chips, candy, bakery fillings, drinks, and snack foods.
When to review it
Use it as a high-value color cue when comparing standard products with reformulated alternatives.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A synthetic blue dye used in sports drinks, candy, frostings, freezer pops, and novelty snacks.
When to review it
Review it as part of the broader synthetic-dye family rather than as a one-off color detail.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A less common synthetic green dye that still appears in some candy, drink, and dessert applications.
When to review it
Use it when synthetic-dye rules are set broadly enough to catch less frequent color additives.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A widely used synthetic red dye that appears across drinks, candy, cereal, frosting, and snacks.
When to review it
Review it as a common dye-pattern clue, especially in child-facing products and bright snack categories.
Label names to search
Plain-English meaning
A red synthetic dye with a federal U.S. food revocation timeline and strong state-law signal.
When to review it
Use it in candy, frosting, and bright red foods when reformulation timing or dye avoidance matters.
Related Hubs
Move sideways into adjacent ingredient and label-reading clusters
Adjacent topic hubs
E-Number Glossary
Look up E-number food additive codes like E211, E171, E415, and E950, with plain-English names, functions, and label checks from IngrediCheck.
Where Ingredients Appear
Look up where additives like sodium benzoate, titanium dioxide, carrageenan, Red 40, BHA, and calcium propionate appear in foods.
Safer Ingredient Swaps
Compare additives like titanium dioxide, synthetic dyes, BHA, sodium benzoate, sucralose, and calcium propionate with simpler label cues and swap ideas.
Food Additives
Browse IngrediCheck's food additives hub for preservatives, dyes, sweeteners, and ingredient-by-ingredient label guidance.
Featured Ingredients
Start with the ingredient profiles
preservative
Sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate is a preservative used in acidic beverages, sauces, condiments, and shelf-stable products. It keeps microbes down, which is why it remains common even when consumers increasingly associate it with older soft-drink controversies.
dye
Titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide is a whitening and opacity agent used to make icings, candies, sauces, and supplements look brighter and more uniform. It became a household ingredient topic after Europe decided food use was no longer acceptable.
emulsifier
Lecithin
Lecithin is a broad label term for phospholipid-rich emulsifiers used in chocolate, baked goods, dressings, infant foods, and supplements. The source can be soy, sunflower, egg, or less commonly animal tissue.
thickener
Xanthan gum
Xanthan gum is a fermentation-derived thickener that shows up in gluten-free baking, sauces, dressings, and frozen desserts. It is often the ingredient that gives wheat-free products enough structure to hold together.
thickener
Carrageenan
Carrageenan is a seaweed-derived thickener used in dairy alternatives, chocolate milk, deli meat, whipped toppings, and desserts. It is useful in manufacturing because it helps liquids stay smooth and suspended.
sweetener
Sucralose
Sucralose is a high-intensity sweetener used in diet drinks, flavored dairy, protein products, tabletop packets, and low-sugar baking mixes. It is popular because it is intensely sweet, shelf-stable, and easy to formulate around.
sweetener
Acesulfame potassium
Acesulfame potassium is a high-intensity artificial sweetener used in zero-sugar drinks, gum, protein products, and reduced-sugar packaged foods. It matters because it is a common formulation tool in modern ultra-processed products even when shoppers do not always recognize the label name.
sweetener
Neotame
Neotame is an ultra-potent artificial sweetener used in tiny amounts in reduced-sugar processed foods and beverages. It matters because shoppers often do not notice it even when it is doing a significant amount of the sweetness work in the final formulation.
preservative
BHA
BHA is a synthetic antioxidant preservative added to fats and oils in snacks, cereals, gum, and other packaged foods. It is useful for shelf life, but it also carries one of the most persistent reputational and toxicology debates in the food supply.
preservative
BHT
BHT is a synthetic antioxidant preservative used to protect fats and oils from oxidation in cereals, snacks, gum, and other shelf-stable foods. It matters because it often appears in the same product ecosystem as BHA and has become part of the wider re-evaluation of older synthetic preservatives.
preservative
Calcium propionate
Calcium propionate is a mold-inhibiting preservative commonly used in bread, buns, tortillas, and other packaged baked goods. It matters because it sits at the center of a real shelf-life tradeoff between softer bread products and simpler ingredient decks.
preservative
Propylparaben
Propylparaben is a preservative used to slow spoilage in certain processed foods, especially where fat and moisture make shelf life fragile. It draws attention because the United States and Europe have treated the ingredient very differently.
dye
Yellow 5
Yellow 5 is a synthetic dye used in chips, drinks, dessert mixes, and other products that want a bright yellow or orange tone. It often appears alongside other petroleum-based dyes rather than as a one-off ingredient.
dye
Yellow 6
Yellow 6 is a widely used orange-yellow synthetic dye found in chips, candy, bakery fillings, beverages, and snack foods. It matters because it is one of the easiest colors for shoppers to spot in mass-market products even when it does not dominate the public conversation like Red 40.
dye
Blue 1
Blue 1 is a synthetic petroleum-derived food dye used to create vivid blue shades in sports drinks, candy, frostings, freezer pops, and novelty snacks. It matters because it is easy to spot on labels and has become part of the broader retailer and regulatory shift away from synthetic colors.
dye
Green 3
Green 3 is a less common synthetic dye used in select mint, dessert, and drink products. Its rarity is exactly why it matters: it shows how retailer dye standards reach beyond only the most famous colors and into the full certified-dye system.
dye
Red 40
Red 40 is the most widely used synthetic food dye in the United States and shows up across sports drinks, candy, cereal, frosting, and snack products. It matters because it is common, not because every single use case is identical.
dye
Red Dye No. 3
Red Dye No. 3 is a synthetic food color historically used in candies, cake decorations, and bright red processed foods. It became the most important petroleum-based dye story once the FDA finally moved to revoke its food authorization.
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