Ingredient: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Part of a mixture}}

{{about|ingredients in general|the documentary film|Ingredients (film)|other uses|The Main Ingredient (disambiguation)}}

{{Refimprove|date=March 2008}}

[[File:Galbi-tang ingredients.jpg|thumb|ingredients for [[short rib soup]]]]

An '''ingredient''' is a substance that forms part of a [[mixture]] (in a general sense). For example, in [[cooking]], [[recipe]]s specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial [[product (business)|products]] contain [[secret ingredient]]s that are purported to make them better than competing products. In the pharmaceutical industry, an [[active ingredient]] is that part of a [[Pharmaceutical formulation|formulation]] that yields the effect expected by the customer.

[[File:Euroshopper canned marrowfat peas ingredient list.jpg|thumb|Ingredient list on a can of [[marrowfat peas]]. Besides peas the product also contains [[water]], [[salt]] and the [[antioxidant]] [[Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid|E385]]]]

[[Sovereign state|National]] [[law]]s usually require prepared food products to display a list of ingredients, and specifically require that certain [[food additive|additives]] be listed.

In most developed countries, the law requires that ingredients be listed according to their relative weight<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006828.htm|title=Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide|publisher=[[Food and Drug Administration]]|date=April 2008|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref> in the product. If an ingredient itself consists of more than one ingredient (such as the cookie pieces which are a part of "cookies and cream" flavor ice cream), then that ingredient is listed by what percentage of the total product it occupies, with its own ingredients displayed next to it in brackets.

The term '''constituent''' is often used to refer to [[chemical substance|substance]]s that constitute the tissue of living beings. Thus all ingredients are [[wikt:constituent#Noun|constituent]]s, but not all constituents are ingredients.

An '''artificial ingredient''' usually refers to an ingredient which is [[wikt:artificial|artificial]] or man-made, such as: