About

The European Union bans or restricts over 1,700 substances in cosmetics. The United States restricts roughly 11 under federal law. In food, the EU runs a positive list (nothing is allowed until it's authorized), while the US lets manufacturers self-certify additives as "generally recognized as safe" without telling the FDA. That gap is real, it's documented, and almost everything written about it is either fearmongering or denial.

Banned in Europe exists to cover the gap straight. We tell you what the EU regulation actually says about the ingredients in American products, with the Annex and entry number, so you can verify every claim yourself. We tell you when the conventional wisdom is wrong, and it often is, in both directions. The EU never fully banned Red Dye 3. The US has better rules than Europe on exactly nothing about sunscreen filters. Chlorinated chicken barely exists anymore. Honesty about the boring cases is what makes us worth trusting on the alarming ones.

Three things we never do: we never assign a score, we never call an ingredient "clean" or "toxic," and we never tell you a product will harm you. The regulator made a call; we cite the regulator. You can read. You decide.

The site is written and edited by Lani Cadet, working from primary sources: ECHA filings, EFSA opinions, the Code of Federal Regulations, and the EU Official Journal. The full sourcing standard is on the methodology page.

This is an independent project. No brand whose products we cover sponsors us. When affiliate links appear on the site, they are disclosed where they appear, and the audit standard never bends for a partner; that rule is written into our methodology and it is not negotiable.

Questions, corrections, tips: hello at isitbannedineurope dot com.