TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone)

What the evidence says

• Restricted useRegulatory

  The EU permits it (E 319) only in listed foods, and Canada only in fats and oils, lard and shortening (200 ppm). [1][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“Banned” means explicitly prohibited or withdrawn after review; “not permitted” means never authorized there.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 TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone)

104 of the 17,000 most-scanned products in the US with a GoodSwap page list TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone). The 12 most scanned:

• Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup Nissin · 3 oz Score 27 out of 100 Poor
• Cheez-It Cheez-It · 2 × 24 oz (1 lb 8 oz) 680 g / 48 oz (3 lb) 1.36 kg Score 56 out of 100 Okay
• Reese's 2 Peanut Butter Cups Reese's · 2 pieces, 1.5 oz (42 g) Score 4 out of 100 Bad
• Woven Whole Wheat Crackers Aldi · 9 oz (255 g) Score 81 out of 100 Excellent
• Takis Takis · 280.7 g Score 11 out of 100 Bad
• Smart Balance Whipped Buttery Spread Smart Balance · 13 oz Score 61 out of 100 Good
• Cup Noodles Chicken Flavor Nissin · 2.25 oz (64 g) Score 12 out of 100 Bad
• Reese's Miniature Cups Reese's · 10.5 oz Score 15 out of 100 Bad
• Peanut Butter Cups Reese's · 2.8 oz Score 4 out of 100 Bad
• Takis Blue Heat Takis · 280.7 g Score 26 out of 100 Poor
• Nutty Buddy Little Debbie · 12 oz (340 g) Score 4 out of 100 Bad
• All-Vegetable shortening Crisco · 456 g Score 57 out of 100 Okay

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.