I'm Ricki. I'm a single mom in Louisiana. My daughter Adella is ten, and as I write this I'm six months pregnant with her baby sister. I built BannedPantry because I got tired of standing in grocery aisles not knowing whether what I was putting in my cart was actually safe for my kids — not just “FDA-legal” safe, but safe the way mothers in other countries get to assume by default. I'm raising these two girls on my own, and I needed something I could trust.
Why I built this
It started with a candy aisle and a bag of Skittles. Adella asked me for them. I picked them up, read the ingredient list, and then — I don't know what made me do it — I Googled what the same bag looks like in Europe. The ingredient lists weren't the same. The European version had fewer additives, no titanium dioxide, different dyes — because the EU banned that stuff years ago. The US version is something European parents wouldn't be allowed to buy their kids.
That broke me a little. I had been buying that candy for Adella since she was three. Seven years of not knowing. And now I'm pregnant again — literally growing another human being — and the food I eat is becoming her. I needed a way to know, every time, with one scan, in plain English: what's actually in this, and has anyone else in the world already decided it shouldn't be sold?
What BannedPantry does for families like mine
Single scan. Plain answer. Real citations to EFSA, FDA, Health Canada, and FSANZ — the same sources regulators use. Safe, Caution, or Avoid. No chemistry degree. No subscription required to start. Five free scans a day, forever. If you want unlimited scans, family profiles, and full PDF pantry audits, Pro is $4.99/month — but the core safety check will always be free.
The standard I won't bend on
We will never accept money from food brands to influence scores. Our ratings come exclusively from regulatory bodies — EFSA in Europe, FDA in the US, Health Canada, FSANZ in Australia/New Zealand, FSSAI in India, Japan's MHLW. If a brand wants a better score, they reformulate. That's it.
Where the data comes from
- EFSAEuropean Food Safety Authority
- FDAUS Food and Drug Administration
- Health CanadaCanadian food safety regulations
- FSANZFood Standards Australia New Zealand
How we review the evidence
- Primary regulator first. Every flag links to the actual EFSA, FDA, Health Canada, FSANZ, or California OEHHA document — not a news summary.
- Peer-reviewed studies, not headlines. When we cite health risks, we quote the original study (e.g., McCann 2007 in The Lancet for synthetic dyes), not media coverage.
- No brand money. Ever. Scores are never influenced by manufacturers, advertisers, or affiliate partners. Our revenue comes from Pro subscriptions and clearly disclosed affiliate links on safer swaps — never from the brands being scored.
- Updated continuously. Ingredient pages refresh when regulators publish new rulings. Last data sync is shown at the bottom of each ingredient page.
- You can challenge a score. If you have new evidence — a study, a reformulation notice, a regulatory change — email me directly and we'll review it in public.
Why 2026 is the moment
This week · June 9, 2026
Consumer Reports and Yuka just tested 40 popular U.S. packaged foods and found that 1 in 4 contained additive levels in a single serving that exceeded daily safety thresholds set by U.S. or European health agencies. Nearly two-thirds exceeded broader levels of concern from peer-reviewed studies. Red 40, titanium dioxide, sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium showed up most often.
On January 15, 2025, the FDA revoked authorization for Red Dye No. 3 in food and ingested drugs (FDA notice). In April 2025, HHS and the FDA announced a plan to work with industry to remove six more petroleum-based certified food dyes — Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3 — from the U.S. food supply by the end of 2027 (FDA tracker). California passed the Food Safety Act in 2023. Parents everywhere are asking harder questions about what's on the shelf — and this week's Consumer Reports + Yuka investigation just made the gap impossible to ignore. This movement was already coming. BannedPantry is just the tool that puts it in your pocket, right in the grocery aisle, while you're standing there with your kids.
I'm building this while pregnant, while raising Adella by myself, in Louisiana — because no one was going to build it for us. If you have a product you want flagged, an ingredient you want reviewed, or a story to share, email me directly: ricki@bannedpantry.com. From my family to yours — Ricki + Adella + baby girl.