Polysorbate 80

What the evidence says

• Gut microbiome (emerging)Emerging evidence

  In mice, polysorbate 80 altered the gut microbiota and promoted low-grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome; human evidence is limited. [1]

• Low concernStrong evidence

  EFSA (2015) found no concern for genotoxicity or carcinogenicity and set a group ADI of 25 mg/kg body weight for polysorbates. [2]

Evidence tiers say how sure the evidence is, separately from how much it matters. About evidence tiers.

Rules around the world

“Banned” means explicitly prohibited or withdrawn after review; “not permitted” means never authorized there. We use each regulator’s own words.

Popular products that list Polysorbate 80

60 of the 17,000 most-scanned products in the US with a GoodSwap page list Polysorbate 80. The 12 most scanned:

• Low Fat Cottage Cheese Darigold · 113 g Score 57 out of 100 Okay
• Heavy Whipping Cream Great Value Score 60 out of 100 Good
• Sweet Relish Heinz · 12.7 fl oz (375 mL) Score 12 out of 100 Bad
• Fudgsicle The Original Fudge Pops Fudgsicle · 29.7 fl oz Score 20 out of 100 Poor
• Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies Little Debbie · 450 g Score 0 out of 100 Bad
• Kosher Dill Spears Claussen · 24 fl oz Score 50 out of 100 Okay
• Kosher Dill Spears Vlasic · 24 fl oz Score 58 out of 100 Okay
• Rich & Creamy Heavy Whipping Cream Land O Lakes · 15 mL Score 52 out of 100 Okay
• Stackers Kosher Dill Vlasic · 24 fl oz Score 52 out of 100 Okay
• Dilly Bites Dill Pickle Snacking Chips Oh Snap! · 3.25 fl oz Score 54 out of 100 Okay
• Kosher Dill Sandwich Slices Claussen · 20 fl oz Score 31 out of 100 Poor
• Kosher Dill Mt. Olive · 16 fl oz (1 pt) 473 mL Score 27 out of 100 Poor

Diets and allergens

Vegan

Yes

Vegetarian

Yes

Gluten-free

Yes

For the ingredient in general. Always check the package: a product’s own labels win.