How to read what is on a label, and what the words on it actually mean.https://pura.to/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-check-an-ingredient-claim-yourself/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-check-an-ingredient-claim-yourself/Every source this site uses is public. Here is how to reach them, in the order that gets you an answer fastest, including how to check us.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/ingredients-avoided-for-the-wrong-reason/https://pura.to/guides/ingredients-avoided-for-the-wrong-reason/A list of corrections, each one traced to the document that settled it, and each one still circulating anyway.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/ingredients-whose-source-the-label-hides/https://pura.to/guides/ingredients-whose-source-the-label-hides/A short list that does most of the work, because it turns reading every line into checking about a dozen names.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/which-cosmetic-ingredients-are-actually-drugs/https://pura.to/guides/which-cosmetic-ingredients-are-actually-drugs/A table of the only ingredients in your bathroom whose strength the law requires to be stated, and the ranges they have to sit inside.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-mineral-oil-bad-for-your-skin/https://pura.to/questions/is-mineral-oil-bad-for-your-skin/A question where the answer turns entirely on which of two very different materials you are talking about.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-sulfur-good-for-acne/https://pura.to/questions/is-sulfur-good-for-acne/One of the few acne answers where the label carries a number you can compare.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/should-you-leave-dandruff-shampoo-on/https://pura.to/questions/should-you-leave-dandruff-shampoo-on/Two pieces of clinical guidance that contradict how almost everyone uses these products, and explain why they feel so drying.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/drug-or-cosmetic-which-claims-are-regulated/https://pura.to/guides/drug-or-cosmetic-which-claims-are-regulated/One sentence in the statute decides which rules a product lives under, and it turns on what the maker says rather than what is inside.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-hair-product-label/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-hair-product-label/One shelf holds two legal categories, and telling them apart takes about three seconds once you know what to look for.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/the-inci-name-is-not-the-source/https://pura.to/guides/the-inci-name-is-not-the-source/A naming system that does its job perfectly, and in doing it erases the one thing many readers are trying to find out.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/what-comedogenic-ratings-actually-measure/https://pura.to/guides/what-comedogenic-ratings-actually-measure/The most quoted number in skincare, produced by a test on an animal that is not a person, applied to an ingredient rather than to a product.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/are-silicones-bad-for-hair/https://pura.to/questions/are-silicones-bad-for-hair/A category argued about as though it were a single substance, which it is not.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-biotin-make-hair-grow/https://pura.to/questions/does-biotin-make-hair-grow/One of the few questions on this site where a regulator has already published its opinion in plain words.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-curly-hair-need-to-avoid-sulfates/https://pura.to/questions/does-curly-hair-need-to-avoid-sulfates/The rule works for some routines and fails for others, and which one you are in depends on a different ingredient entirely.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/how-often-should-you-wash-curly-hair/https://pura.to/questions/how-often-should-you-wash-curly-hair/The one piece of curly hair advice where the evidence and the internet point in opposite directions.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-allulose-a-sugar/https://pura.to/questions/is-allulose-a-sugar/One of the few cases where the chemistry and the Nutrition Facts panel give different answers, and both are correct.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-monk-fruit-allowed-in-europe/https://pura.to/questions/is-monk-fruit-allowed-in-europe/A sweetener that is ordinary in an American supermarket and mostly absent from a European one, for reasons that are procedural rather than toxicological.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-potassium-bromate-still-legal-in-bread/https://pura.to/questions/is-potassium-bromate-still-legal-in-bread/The permission does not come from where you would look for it, which is why this question is harder to answer than it should be.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-red-40-banned-in-europe/https://pura.to/questions/is-red-40-banned-in-europe/A case where the popular claim is wrong and the true version is more interesting than the myth.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-talc-tested-for-asbestos/https://pura.to/questions/is-talc-tested-for-asbestos/A statutory requirement, a proposed rule, and a withdrawal, leaving the testing where it was: up to the manufacturer.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-the-b12-in-supplements-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-the-b12-in-supplements-vegan/The one nutrient a plant diet cannot supply, in a form that no animal supplies either.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-folate-and-folic-acid/https://pura.to/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-folate-and-folic-acid/Two words used interchangeably by a regulation and treated as opposites by supplement marketing.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-there-casein-in-butter/https://pura.to/questions/is-there-casein-in-butter/A food that is nearly all fat still carries enough milk protein to matter, and which of the two dairy problems you have decides everything.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/which-cheeses-have-the-most-casein/https://pura.to/questions/which-cheeses-have-the-most-casein/Cheesemaking is a process for concentrating one milk protein, so the question has a structural answer rather than a list.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-skincare-can-i-use-while-pregnant/https://pura.to/questions/what-skincare-can-i-use-while-pregnant/Almost everything written on this subject tells you what to put down. This is the part that says what you can pick up.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-benzoyl-peroxide-used-in-food/https://pura.to/questions/is-benzoyl-peroxide-used-in-food/A genuinely surprising overlap between the pharmacy shelf and the cheese counter, with the limits written down in both places.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-colloidal-oatmeal-gluten-free/https://pura.to/questions/is-colloidal-oatmeal-gluten-free/A question with a good answer on food and no answer at all on a cosmetic, and the reason is that one aisle has machinery the other does not.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-l-cysteine-made-from-human-hair/https://pura.to/questions/is-l-cysteine-made-from-human-hair/One of the few ingredient rumours with something real underneath it, and an honest account of how much.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-lactic-acid-dairy/https://pura.to/questions/is-lactic-acid-dairy/A question the internet answers too confidently, and the line in the regulation that makes a careful answer better than a clean one.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-lanolin-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-lanolin-vegan/An animal ingredient with an unusually clear answer on one side and an honest disagreement on the other.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-does-enzymes-mean-on-a-cheese-label/https://pura.to/questions/what-does-enzymes-mean-on-a-cheese-label/The single most common reason a cheese cannot be confirmed vegetarian, written into the regulation rather than hidden by anyone.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/why-do-sunscreens-show-a-percentage/https://pura.to/questions/why-do-sunscreens-show-a-percentage/The single most useful distinction on a personal care shelf, and it turns on what the front of the box claims.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/why-does-an-iron-supplement-have-a-poison-warning/https://pura.to/questions/why-does-an-iron-supplement-have-a-poison-warning/One of the strongest mandated sentences in food labelling, on one of the most ordinary products in the cupboard.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-bha-banned-in-food/https://pura.to/questions/is-bha-banned-in-food/An ingredient on a national carcinogen list and an approved additive list at the same time, and what that combination actually tells you.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-calcium-carbonate-made-from-shells/https://pura.to/questions/is-calcium-carbonate-made-from-shells/A rare case where the regulation closes the origin question outright, and a supplement rule that handles the one exception properly.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-collagen-the-same-as-gelatin/https://pura.to/questions/is-collagen-the-same-as-gelatin/One protein, three names, three degrees of breakdown, and a supplement aisle that sells the last stage at a considerable markup.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-gum-arabic-a-nut/https://pura.to/questions/is-gum-arabic-a-nut/A question that comes from a real detail in the regulation, and an answer that turns on the difference between a family tree and an immune system.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-polysorbate-80-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-polysorbate-80-vegan/A question with a probable answer and no certain one, and a clear account of why that is.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-tocopherol-the-same-as-vitamin-e/https://pura.to/questions/is-tocopherol-the-same-as-vitamin-e/The same nutrient under a name nobody recognises, doing a job nobody expects, with its origin hidden in two letters.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/why-do-sugar-free-sweets-upset-my-stomach/https://pura.to/questions/why-do-sugar-free-sweets-upset-my-stomach/The sentence in small print on the back of the packet is the answer, and it is there because a regulator required it.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/contains-versus-may-contain/https://pura.to/guides/contains-versus-may-contain/One of those two statements is written into statute. The other is not mentioned in it anywhere, and the difference is larger than it looks.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-peanut-oil-have-to-be-declared-as-an-allergen/https://pura.to/questions/does-peanut-oil-have-to-be-declared-as-an-allergen/A labelling answer with a sharp edge on it: the exemption is real, and it is not the same as an answer about your allergy.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-lecithin-always-from-soy/https://pura.to/questions/is-lecithin-always-from-soy/A single word on a label covering three different plants, only one of which is a major allergen.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-shellac-the-same-as-beeswax/https://pura.to/questions/is-shellac-the-same-as-beeswax/Same job, same shelf, three different origins, and a naming system that helps in exactly one case out of three.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-vanilla-flavouring-the-same-as-vanilla-extract/https://pura.to/questions/is-vanilla-flavouring-the-same-as-vanilla-extract/Two labels a few centimetres apart on the same shelf, one of which a manufacturer had to qualify for.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-vitamin-d3-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-vitamin-d3-vegan/One of the rare cases where the number printed beside a vitamin tells you where it came from.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-xanthan-gum-gluten-free/https://pura.to/questions/is-xanthan-gum-gluten-free/A question with a clean chemical answer and a messier labelling one, and the difference is worth holding onto.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-does-uncured-bacon-mean/https://pura.to/questions/what-does-uncured-bacon-mean/A word on a packet that means close to the opposite of what a shopper reads into it, lawfully.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-the-law-decides-a-food-is-healthy/https://pura.to/guides/how-the-law-decides-a-food-is-healthy/There is a legal test for the word healthy, and the surprising thing about it is what it does not contain: any list of ingredients to avoid.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-cosmetics-label/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-cosmetics-label/The list is honest and complete, and two rules inside it mean it says less than people think it does.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-supplement-label/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-a-supplement-label/It is not a food label with different words on it. It is a different document, governed by different rules, and it withholds different things.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/are-parabens-bad-for-you/https://pura.to/questions/are-parabens-bad-for-you/A real study, read wrongly for twenty years, and repeated by almost every page that answers this question.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/are-sugar-alcohols-the-same-as-sugar/https://pura.to/questions/are-sugar-alcohols-the-same-as-sugar/Not sugar, not alcohol, not interchangeable with each other, and the one line on the panel a manufacturer may simply leave out.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/are-supplement-capsules-vegetarian/https://pura.to/questions/are-supplement-capsules-vegetarian/The two kinds look identical and the label always distinguishes them. You just have to know which list to read.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-a-proprietary-blend-have-to-say-how-much/https://pura.to/questions/does-a-proprietary-blend-have-to-say-how-much/The rule requires more than people assume and less than they want, and knowing exactly where the line falls is the useful part.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-healthy-a-regulated-word-on-a-label/https://pura.to/questions/is-healthy-a-regulated-word-on-a-label/The word that sounds most like marketing is the one a manufacturer actually has to qualify for.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-maltodextrin-gluten-free/https://pura.to/questions/is-maltodextrin-gluten-free/One of the rare cases where the honest answer changes depending on which country printed the label.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-does-added-sugars-mean-on-a-label/https://pura.to/questions/what-does-added-sugars-mean-on-a-label/Two numbers, one indented under the other, answering questions most people never separate.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-does-fragrance-mean-on-a-label/https://pura.to/questions/what-does-fragrance-mean-on-a-label/The largest hole in an otherwise complete document, and it is one word wide.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-is-magnesium-stearate-doing-in-my-supplement/https://pura.to/questions/what-is-magnesium-stearate-doing-in-my-supplement/The most suspected ingredient in a capsule is there so the tableting machine works.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/are-ins-numbers-the-same-as-e-numbers/https://pura.to/questions/are-ins-numbers-the-same-as-e-numbers/The digits are shared. What the prefix means is not, and that difference is the whole answer.Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-casein-the-same-as-lactose/https://pura.to/questions/is-casein-the-same-as-lactose/Two different parts of milk, two different reasons to avoid them, and one confusion that sends people to the wrong product.Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-gelatin-halal/https://pura.to/questions/is-gelatin-halal/The honest answer has two parts: what gelatin is made from, which is a fact, and what follows from that, which is not ours to rule on.Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/which-foods-contain-casein/https://pura.to/questions/which-foods-contain-casein/All dairy, obviously. The useful part of this list is the products that do not present themselves as dairy at all.Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/which-foods-contain-gelatin/https://pura.to/questions/which-foods-contain-gelatin/Not a list of everything, which would be useless. A list of the places gelatin appears where nobody thinks to look.Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/e-numbers-decoded/https://pura.to/guides/e-numbers-decoded/An E number is an identifier, not a warning label. It is closer to a passport than a criminal record.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/hazard-versus-exposure/https://pura.to/guides/hazard-versus-exposure/One idea, and it defuses most of what you will read about ingredients.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-ingredient-scores-are-calculated/https://pura.to/guides/how-ingredient-scores-are-calculated/Every scanner app gives you a number. It is worth knowing what went into it before you trust it.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/what-natural-and-clean-legally-mean/https://pura.to/guides/what-natural-and-clean-legally-mean/Some words on a package are regulated. Most of the reassuring ones are not.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/can-a-cosmetic-cause-a-food-allergy/https://pura.to/questions/can-a-cosmetic-cause-a-food-allergy/It sounds like something invented to sell an app. It is documented, it happened at scale, and it is genuinely rare.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-gluten-free-mean-wheat-free/https://pura.to/questions/does-gluten-free-mean-wheat-free/The two phrases point in opposite directions, and only one of them has a number behind it.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/does-non-dairy-mean-milk-free/https://pura.to/questions/does-non-dairy-mean-milk-free/One of the few places where the front of a package can be technically permitted and still mislead you badly.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-carmine-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-carmine-vegan/No, and the harder part is spotting it, because on a cosmetic it rarely says carmine.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-gelatin-vegetarian/https://pura.to/questions/is-gelatin-vegetarian/No, and it surprises people because gelatin does not look or taste like an animal product.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-modified-food-starch-gluten-free/https://pura.to/questions/is-modified-food-starch-gluten-free/Usually yes, and the label gives you a way to check that most people do not know about.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-potassium-sorbate-safe/https://pura.to/questions/is-potassium-sorbate-safe/One of the most flagged preservatives on the internet, and one of the better studied ones in the food supply.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-shellac-vegan/https://pura.to/questions/is-shellac-vegan/No, and the difficulty is that the word shellac is often nowhere on the label.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/is-soy-lecithin-safe-with-a-soy-allergy/https://pura.to/questions/is-soy-lecithin-safe-with-a-soy-allergy/The reassuring answer on this site that still ends with a conversation you should have with your allergist.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-is-ci-75470/https://pura.to/questions/what-is-ci-75470/You found it on a lipstick and it looks like every other code on the label. It is not.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-an-ingredient-label/https://pura.to/guides/how-to-read-an-ingredient-label/The list on the back follows rules. Once you know four of them, most of the label reads itself.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/can-i-use-salicylic-acid-while-pregnant/https://pura.to/questions/can-i-use-salicylic-acid-while-pregnant/Short answer, then the reasoning, then the bit that is genuinely worth checking with your clinician.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pura.to/questions/what-does-natural-flavors-mean/https://pura.to/questions/what-does-natural-flavors-mean/It is a real legal term. It just does not mean what the packaging wants you to think it means.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT