What do those E-numbers actually mean?
"Contains E471" sounds alarming written like that on a label. On its own, it tells you almost nothing — here's what's actually behind the code.
It's just a filing system
E-numbers are simply the European Union's (and by extension, the UK's retained) code system for food additives that have passed a safety assessment. The "E" just means it's been approved for use in Europe — it doesn't tell you what the substance does, how much is in the product, or whether it's a concern for you specifically. E471, for example, is mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids — an emulsifier derived from vegetable or animal fat, commonly used to stop oil and water separating in things like bread and margarine.
The numbering roughly maps to categories
- E100–E199: colours
- E200–E299: preservatives
- E300–E399: antioxidants, acidity regulators
- E400–E499: thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilisers
- E500–E599: acidity regulators, anti-caking agents
- E900+: glazing agents, sweeteners, and miscellaneous
This is a rough guide, not a strict rule — but it explains why you'll see clusters of similar-looking numbers doing similar jobs across totally different products.
Most are genuinely low-risk — a handful aren't
The reality is more boring than "additives bad." Ascorbic acid (E300) is just vitamin C. Citric acid (E330) is what makes lemons sour. These aren't hidden nasties — they're common substances that happen to have been given a code. On the other hand, a small number of additives — certain artificial colours like E102 (tartrazine), for instance — have had specific findings around hyperactivity in children or are worth limiting for other documented reasons, which is exactly the kind of nuance a flat "contains additives" warning misses entirely.
Why the number alone isn't useful
Knowing a product "contains 6 additives" doesn't tell you if those six are colourings worth a second thought, or six perfectly mundane stabilisers doing an unremarkable job. That's the actual problem with additive counts as a shorthand — the count is the same whether it's six harmless thickeners or two colourings genuinely worth knowing about.
This is exactly why Olive Avocado doesn't stop at a number. Every additive it detects gets matched against a database of over 290 E-numbers, each summarised in plain English from EFSA, FDA, and WHO/JECFA public safety sources, with an actual risk tier — so "contains additives" turns into "contains 2 additives, one of which is worth knowing about, and here's why."