TBHQ
PlainFoodSafe flags TBHQ as a preservative concern. CSPI Chemical Cuisine rates it “Avoid.” It appears in 2,019 indexed US food products.
Source-backed answer
TBHQ appears in 2,019 catalogued products. CSPI rates it “Avoid.” Its FDA SAFFA status is “Approved (preservative, 21 CFR 172.185).” Those source labels describe the ingredient; they do not establish whether a particular product, dose, allergy, or diet is safe.
- 2,019
- catalogued products
- #402
- usage rank of 247,206
- 392
- named brands represented
- 75%
- 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.
High-volume listing for TBHQ - usage rank #402
- Usage rank
- #402
- of 247,206 ingredients that appear in at least one catalogued product, listed in more products than 99.8% of them.
- Typical depth in an ingredient list
- 75%
- Of the way down the captured list, averaged across the 2,021 products listing it (mean slot 27.4). TBHQ usually falls in the lower half of the list; this position does not measure its amount because source formatting, compound ingredients and labeling exceptions vary.
Derived by this site from the ingredient lists of every catalogued product (Open Food Facts), recomputed on each data refresh. 247,206 ingredients have at least one appearance and are ranked here. Usage and list position describe prevalence, not safety.
How common is TBHQ vs other flagged additives?
Number of indexed products containing each of the most common flagged additives - TBHQ highlighted.
What this page can and cannot answer
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 TBHQ as the trigger. Open records such as 10" egg custard pie; 2 Gringo's Chupacabra Rub, A Fine Meat Rub; 2 Peanut Butter Cups and inspect which ingredient row carries the caution marker. The 66.3/100 product average is therefore a triage signal for this surrounding formulation set, not an ingredient verdict. Its 75% 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 1961 of 2011 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 TBHQ
Across the 2,019 products on this site that list TBHQ, 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 3x more often with TBHQ than in the catalogue at large.
| Additive | Shared products | Share of TBHQ products | Share of all products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caramel Coloring | 347 | 17.2% | 5.7% |
| Red 40 | 296 | 14.7% | 5.4% |
| Yellow 5 | 257 | 12.7% | 4.8% |
| Titanium Dioxide | 249 | 12.3% | 2.1% |
| Polysorbate 60 | 229 | 11.3% | 1.4% |
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
Preservative
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 TBHQ
Products Containing TBHQ
High-volume slice (16 of 2,019) for products naming TBHQ:
TBHQ vs other top-decile catalog footprints
TBHQ sits among other busy catalog rows (2,019 products, mean score 66.3/100). Catalog-mass neighbours in view: Sodium Hexametaphosphate; Kale; Peas. 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
Score-axis peers only, mean screening score among ingredients with ≥50 scored products, not a second count list.
Next steps from the TBHQ page
Start from TBHQ's 2,019 catalogued appearances and the attached source fields, then open the product rows that match your use case.
- Check the listed products containing TBHQ before treating the aggregate count as a personal conclusion. See listed products
- Compare TBHQ with a peer such as “Sodium Hexametaphosphate” on source-backed rating, FDA status, and product footprint. 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.
TBHQ — common follow-ups
How should I read safety signals when TBHQ 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 TBHQ is the trigger. Where a source rating exists, TBHQ scores 1/5 on this site's screening scale and CSPI lists it as "Avoid" with FDA SAFFA status "Approved (preservative, 21 CFR 172.185)". None of that replaces a product-, dose-, allergy-, or person-specific determination.
Which product shelves show up most often with TBHQ? ▼
TBHQ ranks in the top decile by product count (#402 of 247,206), appearing in 2,019 indexed products led by Snacks. The sample list below is a slice of that footprint, not the full universe.
What function does TBHQ serve when it appears beside other flagged additives? ▼
TBHQ is recorded as a preservative 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 (TBHQ). 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.