Dihydroxyacetone

Dihydroxyacetone appears in 5 indexed US food products. No FDA SAFFA status or CSPI rating is attached in this snapshot, so this page reports prevalence rather than a safety verdict.

What the data can answer

Dihydroxyacetone appears in 5 catalogued products, but this snapshot has no FDA SAFFA status or CSPI Chemical Cuisine rating attached to it. This page therefore cannot answer whether the ingredient is safe from those sources. It can show how often it occurs, where it tends to sit on labels, and which kinds of products contain it.

5
catalogued products
#24,708
usage rank of 247,206
1
named brands represented
26%
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.

Reading this ingredient record

Audit the co-occurring flags first

60% of the linked products contain at least one separately flagged ingredient, making co-occurrence the dominant follow-up question. That figure does not identify Dihydroxyacetone as the trigger. Open records such as Deluxe Bronzing Mousse; baby got black lotion; jergens instant sun and inspect which ingredient row carries the caution marker. The 55.0/100 product average is therefore a triage signal for this surrounding formulation set, not an ingredient verdict. Its 26% average label depth helps locate the term when checking the package.

60% of linked products contain a separately flagged ingredient

Processing is unusually concentrated here: Group 4 accounts for 5 of 5 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.

High-volume listing for Dihydroxyacetone - usage rank #24,708

Usage rank
#24,708
of 247,206 ingredients that appear in at least one catalogued product, tied with 4,103 others that also appear in exactly 5 products.
Typical depth in an ingredient list
26%
Of the way down the captured list, averaged across the 5 products listing it (mean slot 15.0). Dihydroxyacetone usually falls in the upper half of the list; this position does not measure its amount because source formatting, compound ingredients and labeling exceptions vary.

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 do the sampled products compare?

Each point is one of the 5 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 Dihydroxyacetone

Per-product safety score and flagged-ingredient count from the same sampled listings shown below. Bubble size = linked ingredient rows. Source: Open Food Facts labels x FDA SAFFA x CSPI Chemical Cuisine. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 5 entities by Safety score (X) and Flagged ingredients on label (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. High score, still flaggedLow score, more flaggedHigh score, fewer flaggedLow score, fewer flagged 050100150 02468 Safety score Flagged ingredients on label Safety score vs. flagged-ingredient count for products containing Dihydroxyacetone Deluxe Bronzing Moussebaby got black lotionjergens instant sunjergens natural glowTan candy mocha choca latte
Per-product safety score and flagged-ingredient count from the same sampled listings shown below. Bubble size = linked ingredient rows. Source: Open Food Facts labels x FDA SAFFA x CSPI Chemical Cuisine.

Products Containing Dihydroxyacetone

A sample of 5 high-volume listings among the 5 indexed products containing Dihydroxyacetone:

Download these 5 product rows (CSV) 5 rows PlainFoodSafe selection: CC BY 4.0. Underlying Open Food Facts data: ODbL 1.0.

Dihydroxyacetone vs other top-decile catalog footprints

Top-decile company for Dihydroxyacetone: 5 listings averaging 55/100.

Similar mean product score

Score-axis peers only, mean screening score among ingredients with ≥50 scored products, not a second count list.

Next steps from the Dihydroxyacetone page

5 product rows plus any FDA/CSPI fields on Dihydroxyacetone are the evidence base — drill into the listings that matter for your decision.

  • Open the product sample for Dihydroxyacetone and read how the term sits on real packages. See listed products
  • Compare another ingredient’s source-backed rating, FDA status, and product footprint. Open a peer record
  • Read how PlainFoodSafe joins source records before treating a screening label as a personal food or health conclusion. Open methodology

This page describes published source classifications and product-label coverage. It is not dietary, allergy, or medical advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I read safety signals when Dihydroxyacetone sits in heavily flagged products?

60% of linked products contain at least one separately flagged ingredient, so the first task is locating which row carries the caution marker — not assuming Dihydroxyacetone is the trigger. None of that replaces a product-, dose-, allergy-, or person-specific determination.

Which product shelves show up most often with Dihydroxyacetone?

Dihydroxyacetone ranks in the top decile by product count (#24,708 of 247,206), appearing in 5 indexed products led by Self-tanner. The sample list below is a slice of that footprint, not the full universe.

Why is Dihydroxyacetone so common on ingredient lists?

The source record does not name a technical effect, yet Dihydroxyacetone appears in 5 products (#24,708 usage rank). High prevalence here describes formulation frequency, not an approved use level.

Regulatory status: FDA SAFFA (Dihydroxyacetone). 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.