Food Safety Tools
Self-service tools backed by our index of 894,137 US food product records, 251,493 parsed ingredient names, and FDA SAFFA + CSPI source data.
Look up products, paste ingredient lists, or build an avoid list against 894,137 indexed labels
These tools read the same 894,137-record database: product or UPC lookup, pasted-list checker, additive avoid list, dye phase-out tracker, and category aggregates. Matches use Open Food Facts labels with FDA SAFFA status and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings across 251,493 parsed ingredient names and 26 flagged additives. They support label comparison only, not recall status, allergy suitability, medical safety, or official FDA approval.
- 894,137 products searchable
- 251,493 ingredient names
- 26 flagged additives
- 6 tools on this hub
What you can check
Every tool reads the same 894,137-record product database, combining Open Food Facts labels with FDA SAFFA status, CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings, and state ingredient actions. The tools support label comparison and source lookup; they do not establish active recall status, allergy suitability, medical safety, or official FDA approval.
- 894,137
- products searchable by name, brand, or UPC
- 251,493
- ingredients with a safety profile
- 26
- flagged additives tracked across recalls and bans
- 35,235
- brands ranked by ingredient safety
What a lookup can establish
Every search starts with the product index. A result becomes more specific only when its label links to parsed ingredients and those ingredients carry a stored FDA or CSPI field. A flagged-additive match is the narrowest layer; it is a source-coverage signal, not a medical or regulatory verdict.
Index split (exclusive layers)
The same 894,137 searchable records, partitioned so each product sits in exactly one layer. Nested ChartBar counts above are cumulative; this bar is the additive decomposition tools actually filter on.
- Searchable product records
- 894,137 (100% of index)
- Linked to parsed ingredients
- 407,907 (45.6% of index)
- FDA/CSPI source fields
- 337,306 (37.7% of index)
- Containing a flagged additive
- 93,271 (10.4% of index)
Processing mix across classified labels
NOVA groups describe processing intensity on the 382,974 products that carry a group in Open Food Facts, a subset of the searchable index, not a medical or additive-safety verdict. Ultra-processed (Group 4) is 70% of that classified set.
NOVA share of classified products
Which tool matches your starting point?
Each route below names what you already have in hand and which lookup reads it against the same indexed database shown above.
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I have a barcode, UPC, or product name
Search 894,137 indexed records for stored label text, screening score, and flagged-ingredient rows.
Product Safety Lookup -
I have an ingredient list to paste
Exact-match each listed name against 251,493 parsed ingredient records with FDA SAFFA status or CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings.
Food Ingredient Checker -
I want to build and share an additive avoid list
Pick from 26 tracked flagged additives and count how many indexed products contain at least one selection.
Additive Avoid List -
I want aisle-level safety averages
Compare aggregate screening scores across product categories to see which aisles carry the most flagged-ingredient exposure in the catalog.
Food Safety by Category -
I am tracking FDA dye phase-out commitments
Open the dye phase-out tracker to compare California regulation timelines with flagged synthetic-dye prevalence across the product index.
FDA Dye Phase-Out Tracker
Plain-text route list (for crawlers)
- I have a barcode, UPC, or product name → Product Safety Lookup (/tools/product-safety-lookup): Search 894,137 indexed records for stored label text, screening score, and flagged-ingredient rows.
- I have an ingredient list to paste → Food Ingredient Checker (/tools/food-ingredient-checker): Exact-match each listed name against 251,493 parsed ingredient records with FDA SAFFA status or CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings.
- I want to build and share an additive avoid list → Additive Avoid List (/tools/avoid-list): Pick from 26 tracked flagged additives and count how many indexed products contain at least one selection.
- I want aisle-level safety averages → Food Safety by Category (/category-safety): Compare aggregate screening scores across product categories to see which aisles carry the most flagged-ingredient exposure in the catalog.
- I am tracking FDA dye phase-out commitments → FDA Dye Phase-Out Tracker (/dye-tracker): Open the dye phase-out tracker to compare California regulation timelines with flagged synthetic-dye prevalence across the product index.
-
Additive Avoid List
Choose any of 26 flagged additives, save the list in your browser, share it by URL, and count the distinct indexed products containing at least one selection.
Open tool → -
Food Ingredient Checker
Paste a packaged-food ingredient list to exact-match its names against FDA SAFFA status and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings.
Open tool → -
Product Safety Lookup
Search any product, brand, or UPC for its additive-safety profile, safety score, flagged additives, and FDA SAFFA / CSPI ratings.
Open tool → -
FDA Dye Phase-Out Tracker
Live tracker for the corporate dye-removal commitments and the 2027 California regulations.
Open tool → -
Food Safety by Category
Aggregate safety scores across product categories, see which aisles flag the most additives.
Open tool → -
Product Search
Full-text search across 894,137 indexed product records from Open Food Facts + FDA SAFFA + CSPI.
Open tool →
Download the category-safety extract used by these tools: category-safety.csv · more tables on Open Data Downloads.
What to do next
Pick the tool that matches what you already have, then verify anything consequential on the package label or an official source.
- Start with a named product or barcode when you need the stored screening score and flagged-ingredient rows for one record. Open product lookup
- Paste an ingredient list when you want exact-name matches against FDA SAFFA and CSPI fields without searching product-by-product. Open ingredient checker
- Build an avoid list when you want a shareable URL that counts how many indexed products contain your selected additives. Build avoid list
These tools compare stored label and source-field coverage only. They do not establish recall status, allergy suitability, medical safety, or official FDA approval.
Every figure on PlainFoodSafe is rendered directly from OpenFoodFacts and FDA data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page reads live from the product/ingredient index, no count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.