🇳🇴 Foods banned or restricted in Norway but legal in the US

Overview

Although not an EU member, Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and adopts EU food safety legislation under the EEA Agreement. This means Norway applies EU Regulation 1333/2008 on food additives, effectively incorporating all EU bans on potassium bromate, certain synthetic dyes (with warning label requirements), titanium dioxide, and growth hormones. Norway's Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority) oversees enforcement.

Key differences vs. the United States

Norway is an EEA member and adopts EU food-additive rules through the EEA Agreement (Mattilsynet, Norwegian Food Safety Authority). Titanium dioxide (E171) is therefore banned as a food additive under the EU 2022 rules, while it remains permitted in the US. The Southampton Six colours — Red 40 (E129), Yellow 5 (E102), Yellow 6 (E110), Ponceau 4R (E124), Quinoline Yellow (E104) and Carmoisine (E122) — are authorised but require the mandatory warning label for children's attention effects, which US labels do not carry. Potassium bromate, azodicarbonamide, ractopamine, and rBST/rBGH are all excluded from the EEA-aligned authorised lists, while remaining legal in US food and livestock.