Preservative concern · Moderate concern

Propyl Gallate

PlainFoodSafe flags Propyl Gallate as a preservative concern. CSPI Chemical Cuisine rates it “Avoid.” It appears in 736 indexed US food products.

Source-backed answer

Propyl Gallate appears in 736 catalogued products. CSPI rates it “Avoid.” 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.

736
catalogued products
#808
usage rank of 247,206
170
named brands represented
83%
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.

Propyl Gallate sits in the busiest tenth of the catalog (#808 / 247,206)

Usage rank
#808
of 247,206 ingredients that appear in at least one catalogued product, tied with 1 other that also appear in exactly 736 products, listed in more products than 99.7% of them.
Typical depth in an ingredient list
83%
Of the way down the captured list, averaged across the 736 products listing it (mean slot 20.7). Propyl Gallate usually falls near the end of the captured 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 common is Propyl Gallate vs other flagged additives?

Number of indexed products containing each of the most common flagged additives - Propyl Gallate highlighted.

Caramel Coloring: 23161 · 100% of the leaderCaramel Coloring23161Red 40: 22216 · 96% of the leaderRed 4022216Yellow 5: 19566 · 84% of the leaderYellow 519566Carrageenan: 18307 · 79% of the leaderCarrageenan18307Blue 1: 17024 · 74% of the leaderBlue 117024Yellow 6: 13787 · 60% of the leaderYellow 613787Sucralose: 10913 · 47% of the leaderSucralose10913Propyl Gallate: 736 · 3% of the leaderPropyl Gallate736
Indexed products containing each flagged additive. Source: Open Food Facts ingredient lists × FDA SAFFA × CSPI Chemical Cuisine.
Chart values as text

Unit: indexed products. Data current as of September 2026.

Caramel Coloring
23161
Red 40
22216
Yellow 5
19566
Carrageenan
18307
Blue 1
17024
Yellow 6
13787
Sucralose
10913
Propyl Gallate
736

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 Propyl Gallate as the trigger. Open records such as 12 Sausage Patties; 2 Layer Cake; 2 Layer Italian Cream Cake and inspect which ingredient row carries the caution marker. The 61.9/100 product average is therefore a triage signal for this surrounding formulation set, not an ingredient verdict. Its 83% 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 714 of 732 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 Propyl Gallate

Across the 736 products on this site that list Propyl Gallate, 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 101.9x more often with Propyl Gallate than in the catalogue at large.

BHA: +70.6ppBHA+70.6ppBHT: +31ppBHT+31ppCaramel Coloring: +13.1ppCaramel Coloring+13.1ppSodium Nitrite: +4.1ppSodium Nitrite+4.1ppYellow 5: +0.6ppYellow 5+0.6pp
Percentage-point gap vs the catalogue baseline rate for each additive, Propyl Gallate products only. Source: Open Food Facts ingredient lists.
Chart values as text

Unit: percentage points above/below baseline. Data current as of September 2026.

BHA
70.6pp
BHT
31pp
Caramel Coloring
13.1pp
Sodium Nitrite
4.1pp
Yellow 5
0.6pp
Additive Shared products Share of Propyl Gallate products Share of all products
BHA 525 71.3% 0.7%
BHT 236 32.1% 1.1%
Caramel Coloring 138 18.8% 5.7%
Sodium Nitrite 48 6.5% 2.4%
Yellow 5 40 5.4% 4.8%

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

ANTIOXIDANT, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT

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 Propyl Gallate

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 16 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 020406080100 012345 Safety score Flagged ingredients on label Safety score vs. flagged-ingredient count for products containing Propyl Gallate
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.

High-volume peers for Propyl Gallate beside “Preserves Freshness”

Top-decile company for Propyl Gallate: 736 listings averaging 61.9/100. Comparable product-count neighbours: Preserves Freshness · Pepperoni · Cultured Celery Powder.

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 Propyl Gallate record

Start from Propyl Gallate's 736 catalogued appearances and the attached source fields, then open the product rows that match your use case.

  • Check the listed products containing Propyl Gallate before treating the aggregate count as a personal conclusion. Browse linked labels
  • Move to a second ingredient page and compare registry fields plus catalog mass side by side. Browse ingredient records
  • See the join rules behind screening scores before reading them as dietary advice. Open methodology

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

Questions readers ask about Propyl Gallate

How should I read safety signals when Propyl Gallate 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 Propyl Gallate is the trigger. Where a source rating exists, Propyl Gallate scores 1/5 on this site's screening scale and CSPI lists it as "Avoid" 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 Propyl Gallate?

Propyl Gallate ranks in the top decile by product count (#808 of 247,206), appearing in 736 indexed products led by Meats and their products. The sample list below is a slice of that footprint, not the full universe.

What function does Propyl Gallate serve when it appears beside other flagged additives?

Propyl Gallate is recorded as a antioxidant, flavoring agent or adjuvant in source technical-effect fields. In high co-flag products, that function coexists with other caution-marked components — inspect the full list rather than isolating this role.

Regulatory status: FDA SAFFA (Propyl Gallate). 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.