Swap Finder: What to Use Instead

Artificial Food Colors (e.g., Red 40, Yellow 5)

Found in these examples

Candy, gummy snacks, and fruit chews · Breakfast cereals (especially those marketed to children) · Sports drinks, sodas, and juice-flavored beverages · Frosting, cake mixes, and baked goods · Flavored chips and snack coatings · Ice cream and popsicles

Options from this entry

• Foods colored with beet juice, turmeric, spirulina, or paprika extract
• Brands that use "no artificial colors" (many major brands now offer clean versions)
• Whole-fruit snacks and homemade popsicles instead of dyed versions
• Natural food coloring kits for baking (India Tree, Color Garden)
• European versions of the same products (often reformulated without synthetic dyes)

Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame, Sucralose)

Found in these examples

Diet sodas and “zero sugar” soft drinks · Sugar-free gum and mints · Tabletop sweetener packets (the blue and yellow packets) · “Light” or “no sugar added” yogurts and gelatin cups · Protein powders and bars marketed as low sugar · Flavored waters and sugar-free drink mixes

Options from this entry

Best simple swap rule: get sweetness from whole foods first, and treat any sweetener, natural or artificial, as a small add-on rather than the main event. Options that tend to work well:

• Sparkling water with muddled fruit, citrus, or a splash of 100% juice in place of diet soda
• Whole fruit to satisfy a sweet craving, since it brings fiber and water along with the sugar
• Small amounts of less-processed sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or dates when you do want to sweeten something
• If you prefer a zero-calorie option, monk fruit or stevia are plant-derived choices, though they are still concentrated sweeteners

Azodicarbonamide (ADA)

Found in these examples

Packaged sandwich bread and dinner rolls · Hamburger and hot dog buns · Bagels and English muffins · Pizza dough and flatbreads · Some fast-food buns, though many chains have removed it · Frozen bread and roll dough

Options from this entry

Best simple swap rule: choose bread whose ingredient list looks like a recipe, not a chemistry set. Cleaner options include:

• Breads listing mostly flour, water, salt, and yeast (plus seeds or whole grains)
• Organic bread, since azodicarbonamide is not permitted in organic products
• Fresh bakery or sourdough loaves, which typically skip dough conditioners
• Brands that state “no azodicarbonamide” or “no artificial dough conditioners”

BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole)

Found in these examples

Snack foods (potato chips, nuts and nut products, crackers) · Dry breakfast cereals and baked goods · Dehydrated potato products (shreds, flakes, granules, sweet potato flakes) · Vegetable oils and shortenings, including emulsion stabilizers · Dry mixes for beverages and desserts, and active dry yeast · Chewing gum, sweets and some beer

Options from this entry

• Tocopherols (vitamin E) and rosemary extract do the same antioxidant job and already appear on plenty of competing labels. Compare two brands of the same product and you will often find one of each.
• Buy oils and nuts in smaller amounts and keep them cold. Rancidity is the problem BHA solves, and refrigeration solves it too, without an additive.
• Choose foods that do not need preserving. Rolled oats, dried beans, whole fruit and vegetables have no use for an antioxidant.
• Read for the name, not the marketing. It appears as "BHA" or "butylated hydroxyanisole," often beside the phrase "to preserve freshness."
• "No artificial preservatives" does not always cover it, because BHA is sometimes in the packaging rather than the food, where it does not have to be declared as an ingredient.

Bisphenol A (BPA) (can lining chemical)

Found in these examples

Canned beans (black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, baked beans) · Canned tomatoes + tomato sauces · Canned soups, broths, chili · Canned fish (tuna, salmon) · Some canned coconut milk · Thermal receipt paper (absorbed through skin, and almost nobody counts it)

Options from this entry

Look for these “cleaner” packaging moves:

• “BPA-free can lining” (still check what they replaced it with)
• Glass jars (beans, sauces, soups)
• Cartons (some beans/broths come in Tetra Pak-style cartons)
• Dry beans (bulk or bagged) + cook at home (cheapest + cleanest)

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)

Found in these examples

Breakfast cereals (especially flaked and puffed varieties) · Chewing gum · Chips, crackers, and snack mixes · Butter and shortening · Instant mashed potatoes and dehydrated foods · Food packaging and cereal box liners (migrates into food)

Options from this entry

• Cereals and snacks preserved with tocopherols (vitamin E)
• Brands that explicitly state "no BHT" or "no artificial preservatives"
• Whole-grain oats and homemade granola instead of boxed cereals
• Fresh-baked goods from bakeries using simple ingredient lists
• Nuts, seeds, and dried fruit as snack alternatives

Corn Syrup (Glucose Syrup)

Found in these examples

Candy, caramels, gummies and marshmallows, where it is used because it resists crystallizing · Pancake syrup and table syrup · Ice cream, frozen desserts and popsicles · Bread, buns, and packaged baked goods · Barbecue sauce, ketchup, marinades and glazes · Canned fruit, pie filling and fruit cups

Options from this entry

• Whole fruit when you want something sweet, because the fiber comes attached and slows the whole thing down
• Plain goat or sheep yogurt with fruit you add yourself instead of the flavored tub
• Water, sparkling water or unsweetened tea instead of sports drinks and flavored milk
• Sauces and dressings you mix yourself, where four ingredients do the job of fourteen
• The same product with the sweetener further down the list, or absent. It is usually on the same shelf
• The Added Sugars line rather than the ingredient names. It catches corn syrup, glucose syrup and corn syrup solids all at once

Emulsifiers (Polysorbate 80, CMC)

Found in these examples

Ice cream and frozen desserts · Salad dressings and mayonnaise · Bread and baked goods · Non-dairy creamers and plant milks · Sauces, gravies, and condiments · Candy and chocolate coatings

Options from this entry

• Egg yolks (natural emulsifier for dressings and sauces)
• Mustard (stabilizes vinaigrettes naturally)
• Lecithin from sunflower (cleaner emulsifier, found in some organic products)
• Homemade dressings with olive oil, vinegar, and a pinch of mustard
• Brands labeled "no artificial additives" or short-ingredient-list products

Formaldehyde (in Hair Smoothing Treatments)

Found in these examples

Hair smoothing and straightening treatments, including keratin treatments and Brazilian blowout style services · Listed under other names: formalin, methylene glycol, methanediol, formic aldehyde, methanal, oxymethylene · Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in shampoos, conditioners, body washes and lotions: DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, bronopol · Nail hardeners and some nail polishes · Indoor air, from pressed-wood furniture, plywood, adhesives and some fabrics · Some eyelash extension adhesives

Options from this entry

• Ask the salon for the Safety Data Sheet before you book. This is the highest-value thing on this page. OSHA requires products with hazardous chemicals to have an SDS, and it lists the hazards. A salon that can hand it to you knows what it is using. One that cannot, does not.
• Do not trust "formaldehyde free" on the front of the bottle. Check the ingredient list for methylene glycol, methanediol and formalin, which are the same story under different names.
• Ask what the ventilation actually is. The FDA's own warning is conditional on it: the risk it describes is for a salon that "is not properly ventilated."
• Scan everyday products for the releasers, not just for formaldehyde: DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea and bronopol all release it slowly over time.
• Consider the less permanent option. Blow-dry smoothing and other temporary methods do not involve heating a preservative into the air, and the result is measured in days rather than months.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Found in these examples

Soft drinks, fruit juices, and sweetened beverages · Bread, rolls, and hamburger buns · Breakfast cereals and granola bars · Ketchup, BBQ sauce, and salad dressings · Yogurt (flavored varieties) · Candy, cookies, and packaged desserts

Options from this entry

• Water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea instead of soft drinks
• Raw honey or pure maple syrup (in moderation) for sweetening
• Whole fruit for sweetness with fiber to slow absorption
• Bread and buns with no added sweeteners (check ingredient list)
• Homemade sauces and dressings to control sugar content

Maltodextrin

Found in these examples

Protein bars and powders · Salad dressings and sauces · Chips, crackers, and snack foods · Instant soups and gravies · "Sugar-free" and "low-fat" products (used as bulk filler) · Baby food and infant formula

Options from this entry

• Tapioca starch (thickener with lower GI)
• Arrowroot powder (clean thickener for sauces)
• Whole food protein sources instead of maltodextrin-heavy protein powders
• Read labels on "health" foods, many protein bars list maltodextrin as a top-3 ingredient

PFAS (Forever Chemicals)

Found in these examples

Grease-resistant paper packaging (fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, takeout containers, pet food bags) · Drinking water, particularly near industrial sites, airports and military bases · Freshwater fish and some seafood · Produce grown in soil treated with contaminated biosolids · Dairy and meat from animals raised on contaminated water or feed · Nonstick cookware and some food processing equipment

Options from this entry

• Filter your water with a reverse osmosis or activated carbon system certified to NSF/ANSI 53 or 58. Check your utility's annual water quality report first, so you know what you are actually dealing with.
• Cook and store in glass, stainless steel or cast iron rather than nonstick.
• Air pop your popcorn in a pot instead of using a coated microwave bag.
• Move takeout onto a plate rather than eating out of the container, and avoid microwaving in it.
• Cook more of your own food. The packaging route runs mostly through takeout and convenience products.
• Check your state's fish advisories if you eat freshwater fish you catch yourself.

Potassium Bromate

Found in these examples

White bread / sandwich bread · Hamburger & hot dog buns · Bagels · Pizza crust · Flour tortillas · Bromated bread flour sold at retail

Options from this entry

Look for breads that say:

• Unbromated flour
• No potassium bromate
• Organic (still check labels, but generally cleaner ingredient standards)
• Ingredients that look like: flour + water + yeast + salt
• Optional: olive oil, seeds, herbs, but no lab-sounding conditioners

Ractopamine

Found in these examples

US pork (approved for finishing swine since 1999) · US beef (approved for cattle in confinement finishing since 2003) · Not in meat raised in the EU, or in any meat imported into the EU · Not in meat carrying the USDA Process Verified "Never Fed Beta Agonists" claim · Not in US pork exported to China or Russia, both of which require it to be ractopamine free · US turkey, approved in 2008 for finishing turkeys under the brand name Topmax

Options from this entry

• Build the meal around plant proteins. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, quinoa, hemp seeds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds carry no version of this question at all.
• Or make it fish. Sardines, wild salmon and trout sit outside this question entirely: the US approvals cover pigs, cattle and turkeys.
• Look for USDA Process Verified "Never Fed Beta Agonists." This is the same standard American producers already meet for China and Russia, so the supply exists and the claim is independently verified rather than marketing language.
• Pasture finished beef sits outside the window where this is used. The cattle approval covers animals fed in confinement during the last 28 to 42 days on feed.
• Ask the brand or the butcher directly. Producers who avoid it tend to say so, because it is a selling point in export markets.
• "Natural" does not cover this. It is an unrelated label term. The beta agonist claim is the one that means something.

Refined Cooking Oils (Soybean, Corn, Canola, Palm)

Found in these examples

Bottled soybean, corn, canola, sunflower and “vegetable” oil · Palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil. Palm oil had the highest levels in European testing · Margarine · Pastries, cakes and cookies · Potato chips · Infant formula, which is made with refined oils

Options from this entry

• Extra virgin olive oil for dressings and everyday cooking. The EU limits for these contaminants cover vegetable oils “except virgin olive oils,” and olive oil had the lowest averages in EFSA’s data.
• Cold-pressed or unrefined oils, where the label says so. In the FDA’s survey, unrefined oils held no more than 0.03 milligrams per kilogram of bound glycidol, against up to 10.5 in refined oils.
• Fat from whole foods in place of poured oil: avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, tahini.
• Check ingredient lists for palm oil, palm olein and palm kernel oil. Palm oil carried the highest levels in both the European and the US data.
• Refined coconut oil is not an upgrade on this measure. EFSA’s average for 3-MCPD in coconut oil (608) was above soybean, corn, sunflower and rapeseed oil.

Sodium Nitrite & Nitrates

Found in these examples

Bacon and turkey bacon · Hot dogs and sausages · Deli meats (ham, salami, bologna, pastrami) · Pepperoni and cured pizza toppings · Beef jerky and meat snacks · Smoked salmon and cured fish

Options from this entry

Start with the swap that almost every list gets wrong. “Uncured” and “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added” do not mean what they sound like. Under the federal labeling rule, 9 CFR 317.17, those phrases describe a product made without added nitrate or nitrite. A product cured with celery powder or cherry powder qualifies, because the powder is the source instead of a jar of sodium nitrite. Celery powder is high in nitrate, and a starter culture converts it to nitrite inside the meat. The chemistry that follows is the same chemistry. That label is a statement about the ingredient list, not about what ends up in the food. What actually changes the picture:

• Hummus, mashed chickpeas or a lentil spread as a plant-based sandwich filling. No cure involved at all.
• Leftover baked salmon or trout, flaked into a wrap or a salad. Also no cure.
• Fresh-cooked turkey, chicken or roast beef, sliced at home, ideally from pasture-raised birds or grass-fed cattle. Like the two above, it removes the cure rather than relabeling it.
• Lower the cooking heat. Nitrosamine formation rises with high, dry heat. Bacon baked at a moderate temperature is not the same as bacon fried hard.
• Change the frequency before you change the brand. Every risk figure in the research below is stated per daily serving. Moving from daily to weekly is a far larger change than switching to an uncured label.
• Homemade jerky in a dehydrator with simple seasonings.

TBHQ (tert-Butylhydroquinone)

Found in these examples

Cooking oils, frying fats and shortening · Crackers and potato chips · Packaged baked goods made with oil · Some meat products · Cosmetics such as lipstick, eye shadow and skin care products, a skin route, not a food one

Options from this entry

• Read for the name. It is listed in the ingredients as TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone or tert-butylhydroquinone. Compare two brands of the same cracker or chip before choosing.
• Foods with no added oil have no use for it. Whole fruit, vegetables, dried beans, lentils, oats, raw nuts and seeds.
• Popcorn from plain kernels, popped in a pot or an air popper.
• Roast at home what you would buy fried. Potatoes or chickpeas in the oven with extra virgin olive oil. A bottle of oil lists its ingredients. A fryer does not.
• Buy oil in smaller bottles and keep it cool and dark. Rancidity is the problem TBHQ is added to slow.

Titanium Dioxide (E171)

Found in these examples

Candy coatings and “shells” (bright, glossy candies) · Chewing gum · Frostings / icings and bright-white desserts · Powdered donuts / cake decorations · Coffee creamers and some powdered drink mixes · Protein bars / “health” snacks that want that bright, polished look

Options from this entry

Best simple swap rule: choose products that achieve color from real ingredients, not whitening agents. Cleaner-looking options include:

• Candies/snacks colored with fruit/vegetable concentrates, cocoa, spices, or no added color
• Frostings made with coconut cream, cocoa or vanilla, that need no whitener
• Gum/candy brands that explicitly say “no titanium dioxide”