ingredients

An ingredient is a substance that is part of a mixture (in general terms). In the culinary world, for example, a recipe specifies what ingredients are needed to prepare a particular dish. Many commercial products contain a "secret ingredient" that sets them apart from competing products. In the pharmaceutical industry an active ingredient is the component of the formula responsible for the effect desired by the customer.

National laws usually require that a list of ingredients be specified, especially when it comes to additives.

In most developed countries, the law also requires that ingredients be listed based on their relative weight in the product. If an ingredient, in turn, consists of more than one ingredient (eg, a cookie that can be an ingredient of an ice cream flavored with "cookies and cream"), then that ingredient is listed according to the percentage of the total of the product, with its sub-ingredients listed below in parentheses.

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