Ingredients List Numbers

I’ve always looked at the numbers on packaged food ingredients lists and thought it was too hard to bother trying to understand them. How does it help me to know that these crackers I’m holding have antioxidant E307b from soy, or these sundried tomatoes in olive oil have preservative 223 containing sulphites? After beginning some research, the meaning behind those numbers initially appeared less complex than I thought, but it became more complex as I continued scouring the internet. I decided to try and break it all down into the simplest terms I could.

The ‘E’ is simple. It stands for Europe, because that’s where the international food code (Codex Alimentarius) originated in the 1950s, later taken over by WHO and UN in the 1960s. Between 1962-1974, a series of numerical categories were added to the list, providing information on the most current scientific facts about food additives. In some countries outside the European Union, such as India, the letters INS are used instead of E, referring to the International Numbering System. It seems to be an almost identical list. In Australia, I have mainly found the use of E or just the numbers on their own.

The purpose of both food additive lists is to create worldwide standards for food safety, made necessary by the rapidly expanding nature of the world food trade, and vastly differing regulations from one country to the next. Food additives of concern were those being increasingly used for food manufacture, flavouring, storage, preparation etc, but were not consumable as a food in their own right.

Interesting examples

Caffeine– It is commonly used as an additive but is naturally consumed through edible plants such as tea leaves, cocoa beans and coffee beans, so requires no number.

Saffron (E164)- it is a commonly used natural spice and food colouring. I can only assume it is on the list because it is not eaten on its own, and excessive amounts can be toxic for some people.

Allura red AC (129)- Food colourings seem to be the most contentious as they are purely aesthetic with no health benefits. In simple terms, this additive is made from petroleum and is constantly on and off the banned lists of many countries. Its uses are many, from cake frosting to tortilla chips to fish dye. Why they are allowed to be used at all is highly questionable, so I intend to look into the issue further.

Certain food additives on the lists are banned from use, while others are regulated by using scientific principles to define reasonable levels of use. It’s interesting to note that in some countries, inclusion of the numbers on food ingredient lists is mandatory, making them easily mistaken for being approved for human consumption, which in some cases they are not and never have been.

The E numbers are mostly broken down into the following categories:

E100s: food colours.

E200s: preservatives and acids.

E300s: antioxidants and acid regulators.

E400s: emulsifiers, stabilisers, and thickeners.

E500s: anti-caking agents and acidity/ph regulators.

E600s: flavour enhancers.

E900s: sweeteners, glazing agents, foaming agents, and gases.

E1000s: other additives.

For a full breakdown, the best list I found was: https://dermnetnz.org/topics/food-additives-and-e-numbers

Sources:

https://dermnetnz.org/topics/food-additives-and-e-numbers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number

https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/about-codex/history/en