How to read the ingredients list on a label: the rules governing its writing

A label looks like a list of words from which everyone reads something different: one person considers a long list of ingredients a red flag, another looks for E numbers. However, the ingredients list is written according to very specific rules, and if you know them, you can extract verifiable facts from it rather than just an impression.

The main rule: order means mass

Ingredients are listed in descending order of their mass at the time of manufacture. This is the single rule from which almost everything else follows. The first item is what the product contains the most of; the last is what it contains the least of.

The caveat “at the time of manufacture” is significant. It considers raw materials as they were added to production, not as they arrived on the shelf. Therefore, in dried or cured products, the proportions look different than in the finished form: the water was counted, and then it was evaporated. For the same reason, in reconstituted juice, water is the first item on the list, even though you are drinking juice.

The order ranks but does not measure. There might be a tenfold gap between the first and second ingredient, or a difference of only one percent—this is indistinguishable from the list. The only numbers that appear in the ingredients list are the percentage of a component mentioned in the name and the nutritional value table; everything else must be read as a sequence.

This leads to a practical way of reading the first three items. If a cookie lists flour first, sugar second, and margarine third, then it contains more sugar than everything else listed below combined—and that is already a sufficient characterization of the product; there is no need to guess further.

How the rule is bypassed

Since the position in the list depends on the mass of an individual component, the component can be split. Pure sugar, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, molasses, dextrose, maltodextrin, and concentrated apple juice—from a metabolic standpoint, these are essentially the same thing, but in the list, they appear as different ingredients. Each one individually moves down the list, but if they were combined into one line, it would often be the first. A full list of names under which sugar hides in the ingredients is analyzed separately—which names mean sugar.

The opposite mistake is to consider a long list of ingredients bad in itself. A long list includes ascorbic acid, i.e., vitamin C acting as an antioxidant, citric acid, soy or sunflower lecithin, and a set of vitamins in infant formula. A short list also guarantees nothing: “sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa powder”—that is three words, and it is still just confectionery glaze.

The length of the list indicates the degree of processing, not the level of harm. It is more useful to look not at the number of lines, but at what is at the beginning.

What must be on the packaging

Labeling in Russia and the EAEU is governed by TR CU 022/2011. It requires the following to be on the packaging:

• product name;
• ingredients;
• quantity—net weight or volume;
• date of manufacture and shelf life;
• storage conditions, including after opening the package;
• name and location of the manufacturer, and for imports—the importer;
• recommendations and restrictions on use, including restrictions for specific groups of people;
• nutritional value indicators;
• information on the presence of GMO components—if the content is above 0.9 percent;
• the unified mark of product circulation on the EAEU market.

Separately, there is a requirement that provides the only verifiable figure in the ingredients list. If a component is mentioned in the product name or depicted on the packaging, its mass fraction must be indicated as a percentage. This is why in “beef dumplings” there is a number next to the word “beef,” and in “raspberry yogurt,” the proportion of raspberries is indicated. Usually, these percentages are more modest than the picture on the front promises.

The rule has a loophole that is worth recognizing: “raspberry flavored” is not “with raspberries.” There may be no raspberries at all in such a product; it is not the berry that is named, but the flavor, and there is nothing to indicate. The difference between two prepositions on the pack is the difference between a berry and a flavoring agent.

Brackets within brackets

A compound ingredient is broken down in brackets, and the same rule of descending order applies inside the brackets. The entry “filling (sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa powder)” means that in the filling itself, there is more sugar than fat, and more fat than cocoa.

It is not always mandatory to disclose the composition of a compound component: if its mass fraction in the finished product is less than two percent, details can be omitted. An exception is made for what is important regardless of quantity—food additives, flavorings, and allergens are named in any case.

A practical consequence: the line “glaze” without further explanation means that there is less than two percent glaze in the product. And if a colorant or emulsifier is listed next to it, it means they were included due to the mandatory exception, not out of the manufacturer's generosity.

Allergens and the “may contain traces” line

The list of allergens is indicated regardless of their quantity. It includes peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, gluten-containing cereals, milk and lactose, eggs, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, soy, lupin, mustard, celery, as well as sulfur dioxide and sulfites if they exceed 10 mg per kilogram or liter. Aspartame is marked with a warning “contains a source of phenylalanine”—it is addressed to people with phenylketonuria, for whom this is not a matter of preference.

The line “may contain traces” is about something else. It means that the component is not part of the recipe, but the production is not isolated: it is the same line, the same equipment, the same workshop where they work with peanuts or milk. This is a warning about cross-contamination, not a statement about the ingredients.

Such a label is regulated differently than the ingredients list. There is no threshold above which it must be placed, and no established verification procedure, so it appears based on the manufacturer's own assessment. Two things follow from this: the presence of the line does not prove that the allergen is in the pack, and its absence does not prove that it is not there. In case of a confirmed allergy, celiac disease, or phenylketonuria, the decision about such products is made not by the label alone, but together with the doctor who manages the diet.

Additives and words that weigh less than they sound

A food additive is recorded as a functional purpose plus the name of the substance or its index. “Preservative potassium sorbate” and “preservative E202” are the same entry; the form is chosen by the manufacturer. Hence the practical conclusion: an ingredients list without a single letter E does not mean a list without additives; it means the chosen form of recording. What lies behind the numbers themselves is analyzed in the material on E-numbers in ingredients, and it is more convenient to look up a specific substance in the additives directory.

The functional purpose is always indicated, and you should read it first. “Acidity regulator,” “antioxidant,” “emulsifier,” “colorant,” “flavor enhancer”—this word shows why the substance is in the product at all.

Next are the formulations that are most often misunderstood.

• “Nature-identical.” The term was removed from labeling after TR CU 029/2012 came into effect. Now, the ingredients list contains either “natural flavoring” or simply “flavoring”; there is no longer a distinction between “nature-identical” and “artificial” in the rules. The word, if it appears anywhere, is a remnant of an old habit, not a characteristic of the substance.
• “Vegetable fat,” “vegetable oil.” A group name that does not specify the type. It could be sunflower, rapeseed, palm oil, or a mixture thereof, and it is impossible to distinguish them by the product's composition. How exactly palm oil differs is analyzed in the article on palm oil.
• “Mechanically separated meat.” Meat mass removed from bones under pressure. This is legal raw material that must be named separately from meat because its composition is different: less muscle tissue, more connective tissue, fat, and small bone particles. It is found regularly in sausages and inexpensive deli meats.
• “Contains milk fat substitute.” Part of the milk fat has been replaced by vegetable fat, and for milk-containing products, this is moved to the name and the front of the package—such goods are even placed on the shelf separately from dairy products. The meaning of the label is not that the product is dangerous, but that it is not cheese or sour cream in terms of fat composition, and comparing prices with them is incorrect.
• “Made according to TU” vs. GOST. GOST is a voluntary standard with a fixed recipe and requirements for raw materials; TU is a document that the manufacturer wrote themselves. Safety in both cases is set by the CU technical regulations, which are mandatory for everyone. “According to TU” means “their own recipe,” not “worse,” and “according to GOST” does not mean “without additives”: many GOSTs explicitly allow them.

Nutritional value and serving size

Nutritional value is indicated per 100 g or 100 ml—this column is mandatory, and only it allows comparing two products with each other. Additionally, the manufacturer has the right to provide values per serving, and they set the serving size themselves: for some cereals, it is 30 g, for others—45 g, for ice cream sometimes half a cup.

The mandatory minimum is energy value, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. The rules do not require a separate line for “including sugars,” so it is absent in many Russian products, and the question “how much sugar is here” has to be solved by the ingredients and their order.

The numbers in the table are calculated and averaged across batches; deviations are allowed. Why they regularly do not match either each other or reality is analyzed in the article on nutritional facts on the packaging.

What to do at the shelf

No one reads the entire label in the store, and it is not necessary. A working minimum takes about twenty seconds.

• Read the first three items of the ingredients list—this is the product in essence.
• Scan the list for sugar in all its names and add them together.
• Check the percentage of what is mentioned in the name or drawn on the pack.
• Read the allergen line and the “may contain” note if it concerns you.
• Look at the nutritional value in the column per 100 g, not per serving.

Exactly this work is done by scanning the barcode in the app: ingredients, additives, and nutritional facts are parsed in a couple of seconds, but the decision still remains with the person.

Count it from a photo

Frequently asked questions

In what order are ingredients listed in the composition?

In descending order of mass fraction at the time of manufacture. The first ingredient is the one present in the largest amount, and the last is the one present in the smallest amount. The list does not show how large the gap is between adjacent items.

If sugar is in second place in the ingredients list, is that a lot?

It means there is more sugar than any other ingredient except for the first one. The list does not specify exactly how much more. It is also worth checking if the sugar has been split into several names—syrup, molasses, dextrose, maltodextrin: individually, they move down the list.

What does the label "may contain traces of nuts" mean?

It means that nuts are not part of the recipe, but the product was manufactured on equipment where they are processed, and cross-contamination is possible. This is a warning about cross-contamination, not part of the ingredients list. There is no established threshold or testing requirement for this label, so its absence does not guarantee the product is free of them.

Which is better — GOST or TU?

GOST is a voluntary standard with a fixed recipe, while TU is a document created by the manufacturer itself. In both cases, safety is ensured by mandatory technical regulations of the Customs Union (TR TS). "Made according to TU" means a proprietary recipe, not low quality, and GOST does not mean the absence of food additives.

How do I know how much meat is in sausage or dumplings?

If a component is mentioned in the product name or depicted on the packaging, TR TS 022/2011 requires its mass fraction to be indicated as a percentage. Look for the number next to the component name in the ingredients list. If there is no percentage, but the name promises meat, it is a reason to take a closer look at the product.

Read next

• E-numbers in ingredients: how the code is structured and what it means — An ingredient list contains E330, and it is impossible to tell from this code whether it is citric acid or something better to avoid.
• Hidden sugar: under what names it appears in ingredients — The word "sugar" appears in ingredients less often than sugar itself does in a product: it has a dozen legal names, and the manufacturer has every right to use any of them.
• Calories and macros on the label: why the numbers don't match reality — The same buckwheat in three different apps gives three different calorie counts, and the package shows a fourth.

This article is for general information. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a prescription for treatment or a diet, and it does not replace a consultation with your doctor. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or follow a diet prescribed to you, decisions about food belong with your doctor.

Figures from regulations, guidelines and studies are given as they stood when this article was prepared and may since have changed; check them against the primary sources. This article is not advertising, an offer, or individual advice, and neither the author nor the site owner is responsible for decisions taken on the basis of it.