Ingredient

How it is used

Used in recipes, formulations, specifications and labels. R&D teams source, replace and approve ingredients, and purchasing works with ingredient suppliers. On packs, 'Ingredients:' starts the ingredient list. In product development people also talk about 'key ingredients' and 'functional ingredients'.

Example sentences

1. We had to find a new supplier for one ingredient after the price of cocoa butter doubled.

2. Every new ingredient must be approved by the quality team before it enters the factory.

Common collocations

• key ingredient
• functional ingredient
• ingredient supplier
• replace an ingredient
• list of ingredients

Related terms

• ingredient listThe part of a food label that names all the ingredients, including additives, in descending order of weight at the time they were used.
• raw materialA basic material, such as milk, flour, fruit or meat, that a factory receives and processes to make its products.
• food additiveA substance that is not normally eaten as a food by itself but is added in small amounts for a technical purpose, such as preserving, coloring, thickening or sweetening.
• specificationA document that sets out the agreed requirements for a raw material, packaging or product, such as composition, chemical and microbiological limits, appearance and packing.
• allergenA substance, usually a protein, that can cause an allergic reaction in sensitive people, sometimes a severe one, even in very small amounts.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• ingredient · Culinary Arts & Cooking

More terms: Ingredients and Additives

• preservative
• emulsifier
• stabilizer
• E number
• sweetener
• thickener
• antioxidant
• flavoring