Purpose / Use

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is approved for use as an antimicrobial agent, antioxidant, dough strengthener, flavor enhancer, flour-treating agent, and oxidizing or reducing agent in a variety of food products in the US.¹ BHA is chemically related to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)² and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a metabolic product of BHA, both of which are sometimes used in conjunction with BHA in food formulations.³ Some uses of BHA are regulated as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS).

Products

BHA is used in processed meats, cookies, oils, and snacks among other types of food. According to the USDA FoodData Central - Branded Foods Database, BHA is used in thousands of foods and beverages sold in the US.

Safety assessment

BHA is considered potentially carcinogenic to humans by both the US National Toxicology Program (NTP), which listed it in its Report on Carcinogens report as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” in 1991,⁴ and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which designated BHA as a “Group 2B” agent⁵, which means it is “possibly carcinogenic to humans”⁶ in 1986, based on ”sufficient evidence” that it caused cancer in experimental animals. These conclusions were based on the fact that BHA caused tumors in the forestomach of rats, mice, and hamsters. A 2011 evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) agreed that BHA caused forestomach tumors in rodents but questioned the relevance of forestomach tumors in rodents (humans don’t have forestomachs) and still allows BHA in food products.³ While the relevance of forestomach tumors to human risk assessment is controversial among scientific experts,^7,8,9,10 CSPI believes the possible risk of BHA to human safety cannot be ignored.

Additionally, other authorities have raised concerns about other adverse effects. A 2025 evaluation by the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) on the use of BHA in cosmetics considered forestomach tumors in rodents to be irrelevant and dismissed BHA’s cancer risk. However it found that BHA had effects on estrogenic and androgenic hormones, although it did not consider the evidence to be strong enough to clearly indicate that BHA disrupted the endocrine system.² In 1978, the FDA’s own Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) found that additional studies were needed because of uncertainty that BHA could impact liver function.¹¹ It is unclear whether FDA has resolved those uncertainties with new studies.  

Despite this long history of safety concerns, BHA continues to be approved for use in the US food supply and the food industry still designates it as GRAS.

In February 2026, BHA was added to the FDA’s List of Select Chemicals in the Food Supply Under FDA Review.¹²

In light of the possible cancer risks and continued uncertainties over its safety, CSPI rates BHA as Avoid.

References

1. US Food and Drug Administration. Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS): BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE. https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/index.cfm?set=FoodSubstances&id=BUTYLATEDHYDROXYANISOLE&sort=Sortterm_ID&order=ASC&startrow=1&type=basic&search=bha
2. European Commission. Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Scientific Advice on Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA). November 17, 2025. https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/502956f3-471d-4e2d-899f-08aa4511bb90_en?filename=sccs_o_306.pdf
3. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources (ANS). Scientific Opinion on the Re-evaluation of Butylated hydroxyanisole – BHA (E 320) as a food additive. EFSA Journal. 2011; 9(10):2392
4. US National Toxicology Program. Report on Carcinogens, Fifteenth Edition: Butylated Hydroxyanisole. https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/sites/default/files/ntp/roc/content/profiles/butylatedhydroxyanisole.pdf
5. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Summaries & Evaluations: BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE (BHA). 40 (1986); 123
6. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC Monographs Hazard Classification. June 16, 2023. https://www.iarc.who.int/infographics/iarc-monographs-classification/
7. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Predictive Value of Rodent Forestomach and Gastric Neuroendocrine Tumours in Evaluating Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group Lyon, 29 November-1 December 1999. IARC Technical Publication No. 39. 2003. https://monographs.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IARC_2003.Tech-Pub_No.39Summary_Reports.pdf.
8. Labib S., et al. Toxicogenomic Outcomes Predictive of Forestomach Carcinogenesis Following Exposure to Benzo(a)pyrene: Relevance to Human Cancer Risk. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 2013;73:269–280.
9. Moch, RW. Forestomach Lesions Induced by Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Ethylene Dibromide: A Scientific and Regulatory Perspective. Toxicologic Pathology. 1988; 16(2)
10. Proctor DM, et al. Mode-of-Action Framework for Evaluating the Relevance of Rodent Forestomach Tumors in Cancer Risk Assessment. Toxicological Sciences. 2007;98(2):313–326.
11. US Food and Drug Administration. Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) Opinion: Butylated Hydroxyanisole(BHA). https://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20171031063106/https:/www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/SCOGS/ucm260874.htm
12. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA Launches Assessment of BHA, a Common Food Chemical Preservative. February 10, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-launches-assessment-bha-common-food-chemical-preservative

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