Yuka study on additive quantity in food products

Author
Julie Chapon, Managing Director at Yuka

Abstract
American products contain the most additives among the eight countries analyzed, with an average of 3.14 additives. That’s twice as much as in Italy, 68% more than France, 62% more than Germany, 24% more than Canada, 23% more than Spain and 7% more than the United Kingdom.

This difference is particularly striking in certain product categories, such as store-bought bread. American products contain an average of 6.18 additives, compared to 1.78 in Germany, 2.32 in France, 2.91 in Canada, and 2.89 in the United Kingdom.

Methodology

• The data was extracted from Yuka’s database as of February 11, 2025.
• The study was conducted on a total of 1,088,425 food products listed in Yuka’s database.
• A total of 173 product categories were excluded from the analysis, corresponding to raw products that rarely contain additives (e.g., fruits, vegetables, plain rice, milk, water, coffee, etc.).
• The overall figure includes products across all 12 countries where Yuka operates: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Australia. A detailed analysis was conducted for 8 of the 12 countries.
• Products with low or no scans on Yuka were also excluded to ensure that only products still available on the market were considered. A minimum number of scans over the past 30 days was required, adjusted based on each country’s usage. The minimum scan count considered was 20 for the United States and France, 10 for Spain and Italy, 5 for Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Results