How to Search for Product Ingredients

It is important to know the ingredients contained within a product you want to use. Information regarding product contents is needed for the consumer to make informed decisions concerning purchase and use. Complications due to conditions such as allergies or other sensitivities can be avoided by not using products that contain irritants. If you have a product and are not sure of the ingredients, you can perform a search to help you determine the product's ingredients.



Instructions

1. Locate the ingredient label on the back of the product. The label lists each ingredient found in the product along with the amount of each ingredient used. Food labels also contain dietary information related to the ingredients. Medications will list active ingredients, meaning those that are involved in healing, as well as inactive ingredients, meaning the fillers that are used to make the medication into a usable form.

2. Browse the Household Products Database. The database alphabetically lists all of the ingredients found in common household products. The site also lists health effects that can occur due to prolonged exposure.

3. Enter the product's Universal Product Code (UPC) code into a UPC Product Search. The UPC code is the barcode located on the product. The barcode is a symbolic code used on products throughout the United States and Canada as a means of product identification. Since the product's information is linked to the barcode, the ingredients can be found by conducting a search.

4. Use the ingredients of similar products as a guideline. For example if you are searching for the ingredients in Jiff peanut butter, compare the ingredient list to another type of peanut butter to get an idea of the ingredients used.