Potassium Metabisulfite
Potassium Metabisulfite carries a source-backed screening score of 3/5 and appears in 347 indexed US food products.
Source-backed answer
Potassium Metabisulfite appears in 347 catalogued products. CSPI has no rating attached in this snapshot. 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.
- 347
- catalogued products
- #1,335
- usage rank of 247,206
- 118
- 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.
Potassium Metabisulfite: top-decile catalog footprint (#1,335 of 247,206)
- Usage rank
- #1,335
- of 247,206 ingredients that appear in at least one catalogued product, tied with 1 other that also appear in exactly 347 products, listed in more products than 99.5% of them.
- Typical depth in an ingredient list
- 76%
- Averaged label depth puts Potassium Metabisulfite near the end of the captured list (76% of list length, mean slot 14.9). 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.
What this page can and cannot answer
Separate this ingredient from its product neighborhood
This is a mixed product neighborhood: 96 of 347 records have some flagged component, while the rest do not. Compare 100% Grape Juice; 100% Grape Juice - White Grape; 100% GRAPE JUICE WHITE GRAPE to see how surrounding formulations change; do not assign their 45–100 score range to Potassium Metabisulfite itself. The ingredient most often sits near the end of the captured list, and Condiments supplies the most useful like-for-like starting point for a label review.
96 of 347 linked records have some flagged component
All 337 NOVA-classified records cluster most heavily in Group 4, while the first-category labels split across several shelves. That makes the 45–100 score spread more informative than the average alone: investigate the low end, identify the actual flagged row, and compare it with a similar unflagged formulation before drawing a conclusion.
Next check: pair one flagged product with a similar unflagged product from the same shelf category.
What else is usually in the same product as Potassium Metabisulfite
Across the 347 products on this site that list Potassium Metabisulfite, 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. Caramel Coloring shows up about 2x more often with Potassium Metabisulfite than in the catalogue at large.
| Additive | Shared products | Share of Potassium Metabisulfite products | Share of all products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caramel Coloring | 40 | 11.5% | 5.7% |
| Polysorbate 80 | 38 | 11% | 1.3% |
| Yellow 5 | 36 | 10.4% | 4.8% |
| Carrageenan | 11 | 3.2% | 4.5% |
| BHA | 6 | 1.7% | 0.7% |
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.
Function
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT, ANTIOXIDANT, COLOR OR COLORING ADJUNCT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER, FLOUR TREATING AGENT, OXIDIZING OR REDUCING AGENT
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 Potassium Metabisulfite
Products Containing Potassium Metabisulfite
16 busy labels from the 347 indexed products that list Potassium Metabisulfite:
Potassium Metabisulfite vs other top-decile catalog footprints
Potassium Metabisulfite sits among other busy catalog rows (347 products, mean score 94.8/100). Comparable product-count neighbours: Carob Gum · Sherry Wine · Cheese Powder. Count peers and score peers are listed separately on purpose.
Similar product count
Nearest other ingredients by Open Food Facts product count (floored at ≥50).
Similar mean product score
Mean product-score neighbours (≥50 scored products), kept separate from the product-count peers above.
Using the Potassium Metabisulfite evidence
347 product rows plus any FDA/CSPI fields on Potassium Metabisulfite are the evidence base — drill into the listings that matter for your decision.
- Check the listed products containing Potassium Metabisulfite before treating the aggregate count as a personal conclusion. See listed products
- Place Potassium Metabisulfite next to “Sherry Wine” (or another peer) using the same FDA/CSPI and prevalence fields. Compare a peer
- 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
Does Potassium Metabisulfite carry its own safety label in this catalog? ▼
This is a mixed neighborhood: some linked products carry a separate flag while others do not. Potassium Metabisulfite itself carries and FDA SAFFA status "GRAS" where the source record supplies them. Compare like-for-like products before treating the average screening score as an ingredient verdict.
Which product shelves show up most often with Potassium Metabisulfite? ▼
Potassium Metabisulfite ranks in the top decile by product count (#1,335 of 247,206), appearing in 347 indexed products led by Condiments. The sample list below is a slice of that footprint, not the full universe.
What does Potassium Metabisulfite do in food? ▼
Potassium Metabisulfite is recorded as a antimicrobial agent, antioxidant, color or coloring adjunct, dough strengthener, flour treating agent, oxidizing or reducing agent in source technical-effect fields.
Regulatory status: FDA SAFFA (Potassium Metabisulfite). 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.