Food additives are substances which are added to food to preserve it, to improve its flavour or appearance, for technical reasons and sweeteners. All approved additives are given a number and are also awarded an ‘E’. An E shows that the additive has been accepted as safe all over the European Union. Food labels give information about the additives present so that consumers can make informed choices.

The most common additives in ice-creams are stabilizers such as emulsifiers agents (e.g. lecithins) and thickening agents (e.g. guar gum). The type of additive which may be added depends on the type of ice cream: milk-ice-cream, fruit or water-ice, industrial made or calorie reduced ice-cream (energy-free sweeteners). Only sometimes colours e.g. in water based ice-cream are used. Most coloured ice-creams across Europe contain juice concentrates or extracts which are no additives at all.