About AdditiveWatch
AdditiveWatch makes FDA food safety data accessible to everyone. We connect brand-name grocery products to their additive ingredients, then pull in government data — adverse event reports, GRAS notice status, recall history, and international regulatory decisions — so you can make informed choices about what you eat.
Data Sources
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Adverse Event Reporting System. Voluntary reports of adverse events related to food products.
View sourceFDA food recalls and enforcement actions, including recall classification, distribution patterns, and current status.
View sourceThe Generally Recognized As Safe notice inventory, showing which substances have undergone FDA review and which are self-affirmed by manufacturers.
View sourceAn open, collaborative database of food products from around the world with ingredient lists, nutritional data, and barcode information.
View sourceWhat We Don't Do
- •Not a diet app. We don't tell you what to eat or score foods as "good" or "bad."
- •Not fear-mongering. We present government data as it exists. Many additives with CAERS reports are widely considered safe.
- •Not medical advice. Nothing on this site replaces guidance from healthcare professionals.
Methodology
We match product ingredient lists from Open Food Facts against a curated database of food additives. For each identified additive, we query openFDA for adverse event reports and enforcement actions, and cross-reference with the FDA GRAS notice inventory.
FDA status is determined by the GRAS notice inventory and CFR listings. "Self-Affirmed GRAS" means the manufacturer determined safety without FDA review. "FDA Reviewed" means the FDA evaluated a GRAS notice and had no questions.
International status data is compiled from EU food additive regulations and Health Canada permitted food additives lists.
Disclaimers
CAERS data is voluntary. Adverse event reports are submitted voluntarily by consumers and healthcare providers. Report counts do not indicate how frequently a reaction occurs.
Correlation is not causation. A CAERS report linked to a product or ingredient does not prove the ingredient caused the adverse event.
Data freshness. We sync with FDA databases regularly, but there may be a delay between FDA updates and our display.
Not affiliated with the FDA. AdditiveWatch is an independent project. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.