BHT
PlainFoodSafe flags BHT as a preservative concern. CSPI Chemical Cuisine rates it “Caution.” It appears in 4,542 indexed US food products.
Source-backed answer
BHT appears in 4,542 catalogued products. CSPI rates it “Caution.” Its FDA SAFFA status is “GRAS.” Those source labels describe the ingredient; they do not establish whether a particular product, dose, allergy, or diet is safe.
- 4,542
- catalogued products
- #229
- usage rank of 247,206
- 743
- named brands represented
- 76%
- average depth down ingredient lists
Catalog prevalence comes from Open Food Facts ingredient lists. FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine labels are shown only when the source record contains them.
BHT sits in the busiest tenth of the catalog (#229 / 247,206)
- Usage rank
- #229
- of 247,206 ingredients that appear in at least one catalogued product, listed in more products than 99.9% of them.
- Typical depth in an ingredient list
- 76%
- Averaged label depth puts BHT near the end of the captured list (76% of list length, mean slot 25.0). Compound ingredients and OCR noise mean this cannot stand in for quantity.
Ranks use Open Food Facts ingredient rows on this site’s refresh cycle. 247,206 ingredients with ≥1 product appearance enter the ranking. Prevalence and list depth are catalog facts, not toxicology.
How common is BHT vs other flagged additives?
Number of indexed products containing each of the most common flagged additives - BHT highlighted.
Reading this ingredient record
Audit the co-occurring flags first
100% of the linked products contain at least one separately flagged ingredient, making co-occurrence the dominant follow-up question. That figure does not identify BHT as the trigger. Open records such as 1 slice hard salami 2 slices mild cheddar cheese; 1/2 Cheese Pizza & 1/2 Pepperoni Pizza; 12 Sausage Patties and inspect which ingredient row carries the caution marker. The 52.8/100 product average is therefore a triage signal for this surrounding formulation set, not an ingredient verdict. Its 76% average label depth helps locate the term when checking the package.
100% of linked products contain a separately flagged ingredient
Processing is unusually concentrated here: Group 4 accounts for 4432 of 4517 NOVA-tagged records. That describes the surrounding products, not the substance. For a useful comparison, hold category and processing level constant, then inspect which named component changes alongside the caution flag; otherwise the product mix will confound the ingredient question.
Next check: open the lowest-scoring linked formulation and locate the exact caution-marked component.
What else is usually in the same product as BHT
Across the 4,542 products on this site that list BHT, these flagged additives appear alongside it most often. The comparison column is how often each one appears across every product with a parsed ingredient list, so the two figures are measured over the same set. BHA shows up about 62.4x more often with BHT than in the catalogue at large.
| Additive | Shared products | Share of BHT products | Share of all products |
|---|---|---|---|
| BHA | 1,986 | 43.7% | 0.7% |
| Sodium Nitrite | 1,438 | 31.7% | 2.4% |
| Caramel Coloring | 721 | 15.9% | 5.7% |
| Red 40 | 670 | 14.8% | 5.4% |
| Blue 1 | 644 | 14.2% | 4.2% |
Co-occurrence describes what manufacturers formulate together. It is not a claim that these additives interact, and it carries no regulatory meaning. Counted over products with parsed ingredient lists; Open Food Facts, 2026-09-01.
Safety Concerns
Preservative concern
How do the sampled products compare?
Each point is one of the 16 sampled products listed below: its overall safety score against how many separately flagged ingredients its label carries. Bubble size is the number of ingredient rows the label actually resolved to.
Safety score vs. flagged-ingredient count for products containing BHT
Products Containing BHT
High-volume slice (16 of 4,542) for products naming BHT:
Peer ingredients with comparable catalog mass (near “Whole Milk Powder”)
High-volume peers for BHT: 4,542 products, mean screening score 52.8/100. Catalog-mass neighbours in view: Whole Milk Powder; Calcium Disodium Edta; Strawberries. Axes below stay distinct so count-neighbors do not duplicate score-neighbors.
Similar product count
Nearest other ingredients by Open Food Facts product count (floored at ≥50).
Similar mean product score
Nearest other ingredients by mean product screening score (floored at ≥50 scored products), distinct from the count row.
What to do with this BHT record
Use the 4,542-product footprint and source labels as a starting point, then inspect the records most relevant to your question.
- Open the product sample for BHT and read how the term sits on real packages. See listed products
- Compare BHT with a peer such as “Whole Milk Powder” on source-backed rating, FDA status, and product footprint. Browse ingredient records
- Check the methodology for how FDA SAFFA, CSPI, and Open Food Facts rows are joined on this site. Open methodology
This page describes published source classifications and product-label coverage. It is not dietary, allergy, or medical advice.
Questions readers ask about BHT
How should I read safety signals when BHT sits in heavily flagged products? ▼
100% of linked products contain at least one separately flagged ingredient, so the first task is locating which row carries the caution marker — not assuming BHT is the trigger. Where a source rating exists, BHT scores 2/5 on this site's screening scale and CSPI lists it as "Caution" with FDA SAFFA status "GRAS". None of that replaces a product-, dose-, allergy-, or person-specific determination.
Which product shelves show up most often with BHT? ▼
BHT ranks in the top decile by product count (#229 of 247,206), appearing in 4,542 indexed products led by Snacks. The sample list below is a slice of that footprint, not the full universe.
Why is BHT so common on ingredient lists? ▼
The source record does not name a technical effect, yet BHT appears in 4,542 products (#229 usage rank). High prevalence here describes formulation frequency, not an approved use level.
Regulatory status: FDA SAFFA (BHT). Safety ratings: CSPI Chemical Cuisine; product presence: Open Food Facts via PlainFoodSafe (September 2026). Figures are computed from those sources, no editor-typed counts. Methodology · State regulations.