Preservative
According to the FDA SAFFA-derived category taxonomy PlainIngredients uses, Preservative ranks #9 of 24 by ingredient count (55 additives), with an average composite safety score of 3.5 out of 5 across the category. 2 are classified as banned by the FDA.
- #9 of 24 by ingredient count
- Category average safety: 3.5/5
- 2 banned ingredients in this category
55 ingredients in this category.
Where Preservative sits by ingredient count
Preservative holds 55 additives among 24 SAFFA-derived categories (inventory size, not a safety ranking).
Preservative vs all categories by ingredient count
Where this category's ingredient COUNT sits among every non-empty PlainIngredients category
55 9th of 24 higher than 15 of 24 categories
Categories, banded by ingredient count
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) Inventory · 2026-09-07
Reach vs. safety score within Preservative
Each dot is one preservative ingredient. Sodium Benzoate sits in more products (2,142) than most of its peers here, despite carrying a safety score of 3, below this category's own median of 4.
How to read this chart
- Each dot is one ingredient tracked in this category.
- The crosshair marks the MEDIAN across this category's own ingredients on each axis.
- Common & riskier (bottom right, highlighted): Sodium Benzoate, this category's clearest reach-vs-score mismatch.
- Potassium Sorbate carries this category's highest safety score (5/5).
Product-label reach and safety scores from the PlainIngredients database, current as of 2026-09-07.
Source: FDA Substances Added to Food (SAFFA) Inventory, EU Food Additive Regulations (EC) No 1333/2008
Compare beyond this category
Nationwide categories with similar additive profiles
Two PlainIngredients-derived peer sets for Preservative: closest on tracked ingredient count (55 here) and closest on mean composite safety score (3.5/5 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood, not a largest-category strip.
Similar ingredient count
Nearest other SAFFA categories by mapped additive count (floored at ≥10).
Similar mean additive safety
Nearest other categories by average mapped safety score (floored at ≥10 scored additives), distinct from the count row.
Other Categories
Related
Every figure on PlainIngredients is rendered directly from FDA, EU, EFSA and U.S. state regulatory records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.