Table 1.
Ingredient frequencies by major ingredient category.
| Major Ingredient Category |
No. of Unique Ingredients |
Proportion of UniqueIngredients | No. of Non-Substantive Ingredients 3 | Frequency across All Products 1 | Proportion across All Products 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additives | 86 | 9.4% | 67 | 15,652 | 64.6% |
| Herbs and spices | 35 | 3.8% | 13,766 | 56.8% | |
| Sweeteners | 30 | 3.3% | 8 | 12,437 | 51.3% |
| Liquids | 72 | 7.9% | 11,767 | 48.6% | |
| Fruits and vegetables | 229 | 25.0% | 10,772 | 44.5% | |
| Oils and fats | 33 | 3.6% | 9914 | 40.9% | |
| Flours and starches | 17 | 1.9% | 7245 | 29.9% | |
| Dairy | 56 | 6.1% | 1 | 7203 | 29.7% |
| Compound ingredients | 128 | 14.0% | 1 | 4980 | 20.6% |
| Baking ingredients | 10 | 1.1% | 1 | 4977 | 20.5% |
| Grains | 48 | 5.2% | 4059 | 16.8% | |
| Nuts and seeds | 31 | 3.4% | 2809 | 11.6% | |
| Meat | 60 | 6.6% | 2652 | 10.9% | |
| Legumes | 27 | 3.0% | 2579 | 10.6% | |
| Eggs | 8 | 0.9% | 1699 | 7.0% | |
| Seafood | 41 | 4.5% | 1052 | 4.3% | |
| Dietary fibres | 4 | 0.4% | 2 | 914 | 3.8% |
| 915 | 100% | 80 |
1 Frequency and 2 proportion across all ingredient lists describes the number/proportion of the 24,229 foods for which one or more of the ingredients in each major ingredient category was included in the ingredient list on pack. 3 Non-substantive ingredients were defined as ingredients usually less than 2% of a product formula, such as preservatives, vitamins and minerals, gums and other stabilisers.