Food shopping has a habit of turning even the most confident cook into a label-squinting detective. From everyday staples to ready-to-eat snacks, supermarket shelves are packed with products promising convenience, flavour and fun. But, flip them over and the ingredients list can quickly become overwhelming.
Add in the growing conversation around ultra-processed foods, and it’s easy to feel confused about what we should and shouldn’t be buying. The truth is, avoiding every packaged food simply isn’t realistic for the majority of us.
Thankfully, not all additives are created equal. Instead, focus on clarity over fear. By understanding which ingredients matter most, and learning how to read labels with a little more confidence, we can make small, informed choices that support our health.
Why food labels can feel so confusing
Many food labels are designed to sell first, inform second. Front-of-pack claims like “high protein”, “low sugar” or “natural” are marketing tools — they don’t necessarily reflect how processed a food is, or how it might affect your body.
The real story sits on the ingredients list, but that’s often where confusion creeps in. Long chemical-sounding names, unfamiliar E-numbers and vague terms like “flavourings” or “vegetable oil” can make it hard to know what’s actually in our food.
“When it comes to food labels, my best advice is to keep it simple and stay curious,” health and nutrition coach Grace Williams says. “You don’t need to memorise every additive. Having a few guiding principles in the back of your mind will make a huge difference.”
It’s also worth remembering that additives exist for different reasons, from preserving freshness to improving texture. What matters most isn’t the presence of a single additive, but the overall ingredient quality, how many additives are used, and how often that food features in your weekly shop.
The most common food additives — and why they’re in our food
But what are the most common food additives, and which ones do we need to be wary of? The categories below break them down — and explain what they’re actually doing in our food.
Artificial sweeteners
These are often added to “low sugar” or “diet” products to maintain sweetness without calories. Common examples include aspartame, sucralose and saccharin. Nutritionist Michaella Mazzoni notes that aspartame in particular has raised concerns, because it’s been listed by the World Health Organisation as a possible carcinogen. “It’s also been linked with poor gut health, headaches and upsetting the balance of the nervous system,” she adds.
Emulsifiers and stabilisers
Found in everything from sauces to dairy alternatives, these ingredients help keep products smooth and shelf-stable. Common examples include xanthan gum, lecithin, and pectin. Research on the impact of these ingredients on humans is still fairly limited, but studies that have been conducted (largely on mice) indicate that they can negatively impact our gut health.
Preservatives (nitrates and nitrites)
Nitrates and nitrites help prevent bacterial growth and extend shelf life, particularly in processed meats such as bacon, ham and salami. Michaella notes that these compounds can form potentially harmful by-products during processing, which is why health bodies recommend limiting how often we eat cured meats.
Which additives should we avoid the most?
Rather than worrying about every unfamiliar ingredient, start by looking at the quantity of additives in your food. Grace shares an easy hack to do this.
“Ingredients are listed in order of quantity,” she says. “The first five make up most of what you’re eating. If those are stabilisers, gums, sweeteners or refined oils (such as sunflower oil), that’s a clue the food may be harder on digestion, blood sugar and inflammation.”
With that in mind, the additives most worth limiting are artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers and stabilisers, and refined seed oils, simply because they’re widely used and easy to overconsume. Nutritionist Michaella also highlights processed and cured meats as a priority, due to the potentially harmful compounds created during processing.
The key isn’t avoidance at all costs, but awareness. Focusing on foods where these ingredients dominate — rather than appear occasionally — is where you’ll get the biggest health return for the least effort.
Easy swaps that make a real difference
When it comes to reducing additive load, we don’t need to overhaul our entire food shop. The biggest wins often come from swapping the foods we eat on repeat.
Yoghurt is a great example. “Flavoured yoghurts often contain sweeteners, thickeners and colouring agents,” Grace explains. “Choosing plain, full-fat yoghurt and adding your own fruit or a drizzle of honey instantly removes most of those additives while supporting steadier blood sugar and better digestion.”
Another easy place to look is at cupboard staples.
“Highly processed sauces and dressings are one of the most overlooked sources of additives,” says Grace. Opting for simpler, ingredient-led versions can significantly reduce stabilisers and refined oils without changing how we eat.
Check your bread, too. True sourdough contains just flour, water and salt, while many supermarket loaves rely on preservatives and emulsifiers. Small swaps like these, made consistently, can take a lot of pressure off the body.
The bigger picture: progress over perfection
When we first start to learn about additives in our food, it’s easy to think that we should overhaul everything we eat. But, as Grace explains, going from 0 to 100 can be overwhelming.
“That pressure alone becomes its own form of stress,” she says. “This is ironically the thing we’re trying to avoid when reducing additives. Instead, look for a lower additive load over time.”
Michaella agrees. “I always tell my clients to aim for 80% for your body and 20% for you,” she says. “What matters is how you eat most of the time.”
Choosing simpler ingredients more often, leaving room for enjoyment, and tuning into how your body responds to what you’re eating creates a relationship with food that’s both supportive and sustainable.
