Food Additives and E Numbers in the UK

Ingredient lists in the UK often include entries such as "emulsifier: lecithins" or "preservative: E202". These are food additives, and the E numbers are their identification codes. This guide explains what additives do, how they are approved in Great Britain since leaving the EU, and how to read them on a label.

What food additives are for

Additives are substances added to food for a technical purpose rather than as a food in their own right. They can keep food safe for longer, give it a consistent texture, stop ingredients separating or replace sugar. UK labelling law groups them into functional categories, including:

• preservatives and antioxidants, which slow spoilage and rancidity;
• colours;
• sweeteners;
• emulsifiers, stabilisers, thickeners and gelling agents;
• acids, acidity regulators and raising agents;
• flavour enhancers, glazing agents, humectants and anti-caking agents.

Many additives have familiar origins. Citric acid occurs in citrus fruit, pectin in apples, and lecithins are commonly made from soya or sunflower.

What an E number means

An E number is a code for a substance authorised as a food additive. The numbering system began in the European Union, and the UK still uses the same codes. Similar numbers appear on labels in other countries under the international Codex numbering system. An E number is not a warning sign: it simply identifies a substance that has been assessed and authorised under specified conditions of use.

How additives are authorised in Great Britain

Food additives are regulated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) in Scotland. In Great Britain a food additive must be authorised before it can be used. Authorised additives are listed in the Register of Food Additive Authorisations, and assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 sets the conditions of use, such as which foods an additive may be used in and at what maximum level.

Northern Ireland is different: EU additive law still applies there. Because Great Britain and the EU now take their own authorisation decisions, the two sets of rules can differ over time.

Before an additive is authorised, its safety is assessed by scientists: in Great Britain by the FSA and FSS, in the EU by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and internationally by JECFA, the joint FAO/WHO expert committee. For many additives the assessors set an acceptable daily intake, an estimate of the amount that can be eaten every day over a lifetime without appreciable health risk, and the permitted uses and maximum levels are set with it in mind.

How additives appear on the label

An additive from one of the listed categories must be named by its category followed by its specific name or E number, for example "preservative: potassium sorbate" or "preservative E202". If an additive could fit several categories, the label uses the one matching its main purpose in that food. The ingredient list is in descending order of weight, and additives are usually used in small amounts, so they tend to appear near the end.

Not every additive in a food has to be listed. If it only enters through another ingredient and has no function in the final product, or if it is used as a processing aid, it does not have to appear. So a short ingredient list does not always mean nothing else was involved in making the product.

The six-colour warning

Six colours carry a special labelling rule. Foods containing any of these must state the name or E number of the colour followed by "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children" (assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex V):

• Sunset yellow (E110)
• Quinoline yellow (E104)
• Carmoisine (E122)
• Allura red (E129)
• Tartrazine (E102)
• Ponceau 4R (E124)

The warning is a labelling requirement, not a ban: these colours remain authorised. Drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol by volume are exempt, as are colours used for health marking on meat or for decorating eggshells.

Reading additives sensibly

• Look at the function as well as the number. "Raising agent: sodium bicarbonate" and "colour: E129" do very different jobs.
• Know the sodium sources. Several raising agents and preservatives contain sodium, which counts towards the salt figure on the label.
• Check allergens separately. Some additives come from allergenic sources, such as soya lecithin. Allergens must be emphasised in the ingredient list whatever form they take.
• Use the evidence, not the headlines. Safety reviews continue as new research appears. When a regulator changes its view, the authorisation or the conditions of use change too.
• "Natural" is not a safety category. Additives from natural sources and those made synthetically go through the same authorisation, so the origin alone tells you little about safety.

Exploring additives on FoodFact

Each additive in our ingredient database has its own page, with its Great Britain authorisation status where we hold it and the products that list it. You can browse additives by function, for example food colours, preservatives and emulsifiers, or see the products listing the most additives. Our ingredient descriptions are partly auto-generated and marked as such until an editor has reviewed them, and ingredient lists change, so check the pack.