Preservative

Preservative is not a marker of ultra-processing. It is one of the markers Open Food Facts uses to classify a food as processed (NOVA group 3).

What it is and why it counts

Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes. NOVA allows additives that preserve a food's original properties in processed foods (group 3).

Preservation and traditional processing

Preservatives, enzymes and cultures keep food safe or carry out traditional processes such as fermentation. Open Food Facts counts them as signs of processing (group 3), not ultra-processing.

Function

Preservative: Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.

Functional class definitions from the EU food additives regulation, via Open Food Facts.

More about preservative on Wikidata

Where it turns up

Preservative appears in 3,564 of the 40,000 products on this site (9%).

Breads 124 of 2,388 products
Sodas 86 of 612 products
Hams 65 of 223 products
Sausages 63 of 337 products
Wheat flatbreads 61 of 149 products
Cheeses 59 of 1,223 products

Products containing preservative

Showing the 60 most popular of 3,564.

How the NOVA classification works