Rating: Avoid

Antioxidant preservative: Vegetable oil, meat products, potato sticks, chicken soup base, chewing gum.
Propyl gallate retards the spoilage of fats and oils and is often used together with two other antioxidants, BHA and BHT, because of the synergistic effects those preservatives have with one another. The best safety studies, which were published by the U.S. government, yielded unusual results. Propyl gallate appeared to cause more cancers (in several organs) in rats treated with a low dose than with either a zero dose (the controls) or a high dose. That finding may be indicative of an "endocrine disruptor," as well as a carcinogen. This additive needs to be better studied.