Making Food Labels Make Sense
Every Ingredient, Every Purpose, Clearly Explained
At Honest About IngredientsTM, we believe knowing what’s in your food — and why it’s there — shouldn’t be complicated. Yet choosing what to buy can feel overwhelming when ingredient lists read like a chemistry textbook. We get it. You want clear answers, not confusion.
Food labels can be packed with unfamiliar names that raise questions: What does this ingredient do? Does it make my food safer, fresher, or more nutritious? The truth is, many of these ingredients have real benefits — and sometimes, the scariest-sounding ones are simply vitamins or natural compounds with scientific names. Calciferol? That’s just vitamin D. Folacin? Alternative name for folic acid, another essential vitamin.
At the same time, we know not every ingredient adds nutritional value. Some are included to keep texture or consistency just right. Others make it safe or shelf-stable. Then, there are also ingredients that are mainly aesthetic, like color, they just make your food look better. That’s why we’re passionate about cutting through the noise — ditching the buzzwords, and giving you facts that matter.
Transparency is about trust. It means showing you exactly what goes into your food products, what each ingredient does, and why it belongs there. Or why it doesn’t. No gimmicks. No misleading claims. Just open, honest information to help you make confident, informed choices.
Because when you know more, you can choose better — for yourself, your nutrition, and your health. And that’s what real transparency looks like.
How It Works
Honest About IngredientsTM is a database of thousands of ingredients used to prepare and produce food in the United States, paired with common-sense descriptions based on FDA standards and definitions.
The Honest About IngredientsTM tool is a plugin for participating brands and products that you can use on any web browser. Hover your cursor over any food ingredient on a participating website, and the tool will bring up information about that ingredient in language that is easy to understand, along with additional information from FDA sources for those who want to learn more.
Who We Are
Honest About IngredientsTM is a mission-driven project of the Transparency Initiative, an independent collective of scientists, technologists, and consumer packaged goods experts. We are committed to being a trustworthy source of impartial, evidence-based information. We don’t take funding from any brands, corporations, institutes, or any other group that would create a conflict of interest.
The Transparency Initiative’s mission is dedicated to empowering consumers and creating a more transparent food industry by making unbiased, scientific information about ingredients and food packaging clear and accessible to all. We believe that consumers can make informed choices about their nutrition if they are given the right information.