Food additives play an important part in our food supply ensuring that our food is safe and meets the needs of consumers. Many food additives have long complex names. Sometimes these are abbreviated, sometimes not. Some have more than one name and a few include letters from the Greek alphabet! The food additives list can be confusing so, to help reduce this confusion, each food additive is given a short code number. Many people like to know what these food additive codes stand for and some people may choose to avoid certain food additives. This list is a convenient way to check food labels as you shop, to let you know what the food additive is and what it does.
