Founding Editor
Lani Cadet is the founding editor of Banned in Europe. She writes about the regulatory gap between EU and US consumer products from primary sources: ECHA filings, EFSA opinions, Federal Register rulemaking, and the Code of Federal Regulations.
Her working method is the site's method. Read the regulation before reading the coverage of the regulation. Attribute every conclusion to the regulator that reached it. Push back on the conventional wisdom in both directions: the EU is not always the cautious one, and the internet's favorite examples are frequently its worst ones. The full sourcing standard is documented on the methodology page.
She started reading ingredient labels the way most people do: after coming home from Europe feeling inexplicably better and wanting an answer that didn't involve being shouted at. The honest version of that answer became the first piece on this site.
Americans average 4,774 steps a day versus a global 5,000 and Hong Kong's 6,880. The gap tracks the built environment, not willpower. A calm look at car dependency and 'activity inequality.'
European and American chocolate taste different because the EU and FDA define chocolate differently, cap vegetable fats at 5%, and handle milk differently. A calibrated look, not a scare story.
The EU restricted kojic acid to 1% in face and hand products under Regulation (EU) 2024/996. It's a restriction, not a ban, and the number is looser than the SCCS's own advice. A calibrated look at the thyroid concern and what the US does instead.
Ireland's Supreme Court ruled Subway's bread isn't legally bread because its sugar runs five times over the limit. A calibrated look at why American bread is sweeter, what the law actually said, and how Europe defines a loaf.
Benzene has turned up in dry shampoos, sunscreens, and acne creams since 2021. It's banned as a cosmetic ingredient on both sides of the Atlantic. The real transatlantic gap is in manufacturing controls and what happens after a bad batch ships.
Prostaglandin analogues like isopropyl cloprostenate grow lashes because they're pharmacologically drugs. The EU's SCCS ruled them unsafe for cosmetics in 2026. A calibrated look at the science, the side effects, and the regulatory gap.
Whole Foods bans 300+ ingredients, and its list overlaps heavily with EU law. But it bans things Europe allows, misses things Europe bans, and reveals the real American system: regulation as a luxury good.
Red 40 is legal in the EU. What Europe actually did, a warning label that reshaped the market, and why the same label was ruled unconstitutional in Texas, reveals how the American food system really works.
The 2007 Southampton study linked six artificial colours and a preservative to hyperactivity in children, and it's the reason EU foods carry a warning label. A calibrated look at what the science showed and what it didn't.
Kevin Hall's 2019 NIH inpatient trial is the closest thing we have to proof that ultra-processed food drives overeating. A calibrated look at what it showed, what it didn't, and the 2025 twist.
Skittles aren't banned in Europe or California. The 'Skittles ban' nickname came from titanium dioxide, which the EU restricted in 2022 and California dropped from its 2023 law. What the California Food Safety Act really covers, calmly explained.
The EU bars US chicken over pathogen reduction treatments, but EFSA itself called the chlorine washes safe to eat. The honest story of chlorinated chicken, farm-to-fork hygiene, and why most US plants stopped using chlorine anyway.
The FDA opened a post-market review of azodicarbonamide (ADA) in May 2026, with the comment record closing July 13. Europe never authorized it as a food additive. A calibrated look at semicarbazide, worker asthma, and the 'yoga mat' framing.
The EU set binding PFAS limits in animal-origin foods starting in 2023. In June 2026 the FDA denied a petition for enforceable PFAS tolerances in US food, citing insufficient evidence. A calibrated look at what each side actually did.
A single ranked reference for every US-vs-Europe ingredient contrast from the 2026 World Cup run: titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, ractopamine, and the dye warning label, plus the gaps that have quietly closed. Fact-checked.
A World Cup stadium concession tray, broken down: the ractopamine in the hot dog, the potassium bromate in the bun, the dye warning label on the slushie, the titanium dioxide in the white candy. What Europe does differently, fact-checked.
Cyclospora causes large recurring US summer outbreaks tied to fresh produce, while Europe's cases are mostly travel-related. In 2025 the CDC dropped it from mandatory tracking, and now nobody agrees how big the 2026 outbreak is. The calibrated, cited version.
From July 20, 2026, most new food packaging containing BPA can no longer be placed on the EU market. What Regulation 2024/3190 covers, why Britain postponed its own ban, and where that leaves American cans.
BPA is legal in US food packaging, with two narrow exceptions, while the EU's ban became enforceable in July 2026. Where BPA still shows up in America, the BPS substitution catch, and the calibrated risk picture.
How much bigger are American portions than European ones? Researchers put restaurant meals on a scale in Paris and Philadelphia. Here are the numbers, the labeling rules behind them, and the honest limits of the portion story.
Europe has not banned fluoride. Around 90 percent of European toothpaste contains it, several countries fluoridate salt, and EFSA's 2025 review found no major health concern at European water levels. Here's the calibrated version.
The 2026 World Cup final, rescored on food rules: Spain's titanium dioxide ban and dye warning labels versus Argentina's export beef standard, and why both finalists clear bars America still doesn't. Fact-checked and calibrated.
US McDonald's fries list roughly 19 ingredients; UK fries list about 4. Here's exactly what's different, why, and the honest answer to whether any of it is actually 'banned in Europe.'
The USA lost to Belgium in the 2026 World Cup Round of 16. Belgium's food rules ban several additives and practices the US still allows. Here's the honest, cited comparison.
European milk sits unrefrigerated for months because of UHT processing, not preservatives. Here's how UHT works, why the US never adopted it, and what it actually costs you nutritionally.
A country-by-country look at the 2026 World Cup quarterfinalists through their food rules: the one big additive or practice each one restricts that the US still allows, fact-checked and cited.
In June 2026 the FDA approved bemotrizinol (Tinosorb S), the first new UV filter added to the US sunscreen monograph since the 1990s. Why it took 25 years, what the filter actually does, and what it does and doesn't fix.
Is high-fructose corn syrup banned in Europe? No. It's legal across the EU and always has been. The real reason you rarely see it: a Common Agricultural Policy production quota that capped isoglucose until October 2017. A calm, sourced myth-bust.
Ultra-processed food makes up roughly 55 to 60% of American calories and as little as 14% in parts of Europe. What the NOVA numbers actually mean, what the landmark Hall trial proved, and where the science is still genuinely uncertain.
Regulation (EU) 2026/78 (Omnibus VIII) added new CMR substances to the EU's banned and restricted cosmetics lists from May 2026. What's on it, how the automatic ban mechanism works, and why the US has no equivalent.
GRAS lets companies decide an ingredient is safe and add it to food without telling the FDA. A calm, sourced look at the 1958 law, the 1997 voluntary turn, the roughly 1,000 secret additives, and what the loophole does and doesn't mean.
Do sulfites in wine cause headaches? Almost certainly not. A calm, data-led myth-bust pegged to the Knicks' champagne celebration, plus the real difference between EU and US wine sulfite limits.
Americans refrigerate eggs; Europeans leave them on the shelf. The reason is the cuticle, washing, and two different philosophies of food safety. A calm, sourced explainer, with the regulations behind each side.
Americans routinely report eating bread in Europe with no trouble, then bloating at home. A calm, data-led look at fructans vs gluten, fermentation, additives, wheat variety, portions, and the part nobody wants to credit: the vacation itself.
European sunscreens have long used UV filters the FDA wouldn't approve, especially for UVA. The reason is regulatory, not chemical. A calm look at the 25-year filter gap and the June 2026 bemotrizinol approval that began to close it.
A fact-checked guide to which American foods are actually banned in Europe, and which the viral listicles get wrong. Sorted into true, overstated, and false, with primary-source citations for each.
BHA and BHT keep American snacks shelf-stable for months. They're not banned in Europe; they're permitted as E320 and E321 under strict limits. A calibrated look at why BHA carries a cancer flag and BHT mostly doesn't.
Brominated vegetable oil was pulled from the GRAS list in 1970 and finally revoked by the FDA in 2024, effective the same year the EU's long-standing ban was reaffirmed. The 54-year story of an additive nobody defended and nobody removed.
A side-by-side of the actual ingredient lists. The US original is single-grain oats; the UK box is a multigrain blend made by Nestlé. Which one is 'cleaner' isn't the answer you expect.
Heinz ketchup really is different in the US and the UK, but not for the reason the listicles claim. A label-by-label comparison, plus why the HFCS-vs-sugar panic doesn't hold up, and what actually differs.
Europe banned potassium bromate from flour in 1990. The US still permits it at 75 ppm. A look at the rodent cancer data, the FDA's voluntary-ask posture, and California's AB 418, which finally forces the issue in 2027.
REACH and TSCA answer the same question (is this chemical safe to sell?) with opposite default answers. A consumer-readable explainer on no-data-no-market, the precautionary principle, the grandfather clause, and why the two systems keep diverging.
Red Dye 3 was banned in US cosmetics in 1990 but stayed in food until 2025. Europe never banned it outright. A calibrated look at the rat studies, the Delaney Clause, and what still contains it.
The EU banned titanium dioxide (E171) from food in 2022 because EFSA couldn't rule out genotoxicity. The FDA still calls it safe. A calibrated look at the uncertainty, the Skittles lawsuit, and the court ruling everyone misreads.
Americans walk fewer steps than almost any wealthy country. The reason is built into the ground: zoning, parking minimums, and 70 years of car-first development. A calm look at the data.
Real regulatory differences exist. So do lifestyle factors. Here's the calibrated answer to a question every returning American asks.
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