How to read an ingredient list

The ingredient list is the block of small print on the box or the back of the pack. It is the main written record of what a product contains, and it is easy to over-read. This guide covers where to find it, how the names work, and what it cannot tell you.

Where the list is required

In the U.S., the FDA says it requires the list of ingredients under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act.

In the EU, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 requires a list preceded by the word “ingredients”. The regulation allows the list to appear on the outer packaging alone, so a small tube may not carry it.

The names

Ingredients are listed by standard names. The EU regulation says to use the common ingredient name from the European glossary, and these names are known as INCI names. U.S. rules also set names, either the name the FDA established or one from named reference books. Poliage matches ingredients using the INCI names as the European Commission’s CosIng database prints them.

This is why the front of a pack can say one thing and the list another. A plain-language claim on the front is marketing text. The list is the legal declaration.

The order

In the U.S., the list runs in descending order of predominance. In the EU, it runs in descending order of weight when the ingredients are added. Both systems let the smallest ingredients appear in any order: in the U.S. those at 1% or less, in the EU those under 1%. That means the order is reliable at the top and loose at the bottom. The guide on ingredient order covers this in detail.

Terms that stand for more than one thing

Some entries are groups, not single ingredients.

• Fragrance or parfum. The FDA says fragrance and flavor ingredients can be listed simply as “Fragrance” or “Flavor”. The EU term is “parfum” or “aroma”.
• Color additives. U.S. rules allow them after the other ingredients, in any order. EU rules allow colorants other than hair colorants to be listed in any order after the other ingredients, using Colour Index (CI) names.
• “May contain”. U.S. rules let a list name a color additive that is not in every unit of a product if it is marked “may contain”, for example when color additives are added to some batches for color matching or shared across a line of shaded products. The EU allows “may contain” or the symbol “+/-” for decorative products sold in several shades.
• “And other ingredients”. The FDA guide says this phrase may be used at the end of the declaration for an ingredient approved as a trade secret.

What the list cannot tell you

• How much of each ingredient is in the product. Only the order, and only down to 1%.
• What is inside a fragrance blend. One word can cover many components.
• Whether a formula has changed. A maker can change a recipe without changing the barcode, so the label on the pack in your hand comes first.
• Whether a product suits you. A list states what is in the product. It is not a judgment.

How Poliage uses lists

Poliage reads the ingredient list for a product and shows “Contains” followed by the ingredient and what it does, as CosIng lists its function. It marks the ingredient when it is on your own avoid list. A flag states that an ingredient is listed. Product data comes from brand sites, Open Beauty Facts, CosIng and user-submitted lists, and labels can be misread. If the list on the pack and the list in the app differ, trust the pack.

If you have a known allergy, the FDA says you may want to choose fragrance free products and check the ingredient list carefully. Poliage gives product information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist about a reaction.

Where this comes from

The U.S. rules come from the FDA pages on fragrances in cosmetics and the cosmetics labeling guide, and from the federal regulation on designation of ingredients (21 CFR 701.3). The EU rules come from Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. Ingredient names and functions follow the European Commission’s CosIng database.