Quaker Instant Grits Red Eye Gravy & Country Ham (12-1 Oz) 12 Ounce 12 Count Paper Pouch

Pepsico Inc. · Grains/Flour · barcode 00030000044209

What stands out

From the label
The ingredients list Red No. 3 (erythrosine), which has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: US (FDA) ban from 2027. Details

Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
Additives1 ingredient has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: US (FDA) ban from 2027. Which
TypicalFDA's tests of grains/flour show what's typical. See levels

Additives with restrictions somewhere

From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2021-03-19). Recipes change, so check the package you have.

Rules that apply to more than one of these

EU: Allowed (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008) Source. Applies to all of them.
Texas: Warning label required from 2027-01-01 Labels developed on or after January 1, 2027 must warn that the product contains an ingredient not recommended for consumption in Australia, Canada, the EU or the UK. (SB 25 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
Louisiana: Banned in school meals from 2028-2029 school year Banned in Louisiana school food from the 2028-2029 school year (concession stands and vending machines exempt). (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
Louisiana: Warning label required from 2028-01-01 Products containing it must carry a QR code disclosure from January 1, 2028. (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.

Red No. 3 (erythrosine) (E127)

US (FDA): Authorization revoked from 2027-01-15 FDA revoked its approval for food; food makers must stop using it by January 15, 2027 (ingested drugs by January 18, 2028). (90 FR 4628 (2025)) Source
California: Banned from 2027-01-01 Banned in food made, sold or distributed in California after January 1, 2027. (AB 418 (2023)) Source
West Virginia: Banned from 2028-01-01 Food containing it is treated as adulterated in West Virginia from January 1, 2028. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source
West Virginia: Banned in school meals from 2025-08-01 Banned in West Virginia school meals since August 1, 2025. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source

BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) (E321)

US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows it as a preservative. Source

Typical for grains/flour

FDA doesn't test this exact kind of food, so these are the closest foods it does test. Treat them as a rough guide.

Cadmium: typically 10.9 ppb (FDA, 33 samples, 2017-2020). A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) a day; an adult at about 6.1 kg (13 lb).
One serving (28 g, from the label):
2% of a toddler's daily limit
under 1% of an adult's daily limit
Arsenic (total): typically 52.7 ppb (FDA, 33 samples, 2017-2020). No US agency limit we can cite.
Lead, Mercury: usually below 4 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.

FDA samples behind these numbers

Lead in Flour, white, all-purpose: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 1.63, highest 4.9 ppb (2018-2020)
Lead in Quinoa, cooked: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 3.67, highest 11 ppb (2018-2020)
Lead in Rice, brown, cooked: found in 0 of 27 samples, all below 4 ppb (2017-2020)
Cadmium in Flour, white, all-purpose: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 42.3, highest 45 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Quinoa, cooked: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 11.2, highest 19 ppb (2018-2020)
Cadmium in Rice, brown, cooked: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 7.98, highest 17 ppb (2017-2020)
Mercury in Flour, white, all-purpose: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Quinoa, cooked: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
Mercury in Rice, brown, cooked: found in 8 of 27 samples, average 0.36, highest 1.5 ppb (2017-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Flour, white, all-purpose: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 3.53, highest 3.6 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Quinoa, cooked: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 3.33, highest 10 ppb (2018-2020)
Arsenic (total) in Rice, brown, cooked: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 64.3, highest 88 ppb (2017-2020)

"Typically" is FDA's middle sample. Daily amounts use the long-run average and each chemical's daily limit (EPA reference dose, or FDA's level for lead) for a 33-lb toddler and a 154-lb adult. ppb = micrograms per kilogram of food. Source: FDA Total Diet Study.

Not tested

No published results for this product cover: Metals, Perchlorate, Phthalates (plastic softeners), Phthalate substitutes, Bisphenols. That means nobody has published a test, not that these are absent.

Ingredients (from the label)

DEGERMINATED WHITE CORN GRITS, SALT, SOY FLOUR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, HYDROLYZED CORN AND SOY PROTEIN, SOYBEAN OIL, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, TORULA YEAST, CARAMEL COLOR, SUGAR, CORN MALTODEXTRIN, PALM OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, REDUCED IRON, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SPICE, SODIUM CASEINATE, NIACINAMIDE*, RED 3 (COLOR), BHT AND CITRIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, TOCOPHEROLS (PRESERVATIVE), THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, FOLIC ACID*. *ONE OF THE B VITAMINS.

From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2021-03-19. Labels change; check the package.

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