Aluminium
12011-61-9 · 7429-90-5 · Adom · Aisin Metal Fiber · Al · Allbri aluminum paste and powder · Alumina fibre · aluminio · Aluminium · Aluminium 27 · aluminium atom · Aluminium bronze · Aluminium flake · Aluminium metallicum · aluminium powder · ALUMINIUM POWDER (pyrophoric) · aluminium(0) · aluminium(3+) ion · aluminium(III) cation · Aluminium-27 · ALUMINUM · Aluminum (Al) · Aluminum - Al @ 1000 microg/g in Hydrocarbon Oil · Aluminum - Al @ 5000 microg/g in Hydrocarbon Oil · Aluminum 27 · Aluminum A00 · Aluminum AA Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HCl · Aluminum dehydrated · Aluminum foil · Aluminum foil, 0.25mm (0.01in) thick, annealed · Aluminum foil, 1.0mm (0.04in) thick, annealed · Aluminum ingot · Aluminum metal · Aluminum Metallicum · Aluminum powder · Aluminum rod · Aluminum shot · Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10 microg/mL in 2% HNO3 · Aluminum Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HCl · Aluminum Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HNO3 · Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10000 microg/mL in 5% HCl · Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10000 microg/mL in 5% HNO3 · ALUMINUM, ATOMIZED · Aluminum, foil, thickness 0.025 mm, length 2 m, purity 99% · Aluminum, foil, thickness 0.075 mm, length 1 m, purity 99% · Aluminum-27 · BTS-CATALYST · CI Pigment Metal · COSMETIC ALUMINUM POWDER VP-1 · CPD4NFA903 · DIAMOND PIECE H TYPE, SILVER · Dietary Aluminum · E 173 · Emanay atomized aluminum powder · INS NO.173 · INS-173 · JISC 3108 · JISC 3110 · Metallic aluminum · Metana · Metana aluminum paste · Noral aluminum · Noral Extra Fine Lining Grade · Noral Ink Grade Aluminum · Noral non-leafing grade · Total Aluminum · E173 · Aluminum · Aluminium · Aliuminis · Alluminio · Alumiini · Alumiinium · Aluminij · Aluminio · Aluminiu · Aluminium · Aluminju · Alumīnijs · Glin · Hliník · Αργίλιο (αλουμίνιο) · АлуминийE number E173CAS 7429-90-5
Listed as a colour by Canada and the EU.
Listed as colours (CA, EU)
- Canada: Food colour — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3)
- European Union: Colours — Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II, Part B, 1. Colours (consolidated text 02008R1333-20260818)
Aluminium, as fine metallic leaf or powder, is permitted in the EU only as a silver-coloured external coating on sugar confectionery used to decorate cakes and pastries.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | Permitted | 2 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category
| Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| Canada | Permitted, with conditions | highest permitted level 670 mg/kg In: Unstandardized confectionery, except chewing gum. Purpose: Food colour. Limit: 670 ppm. Amendment notices: M-FAA-25-03. | Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Colours (List 3), item A.3(a)retrieved 2026-10-17 |
| European Union | Permitted, with conditions | 1 food category quantum satis. only external coating of sugar confectionery for the decoration of cakes and pastries. | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II, as amended by (EU) No 1129/2011retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Great Britain | Permitted, with conditions | 1 food category quantum satis. only external coating of sugar confectionery for the decoration of cakes and pastries. | Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II (as at 28 June 2024)retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
How much is permitted
A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.
| Australia and New Zealand | — | 2 GMP |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 670 mg/kg | 1 numeric limit |
| European Union | — | 1 quantum satis |
| Great Britain | — | 1 quantum satis |
What it is made from
Refined aluminium metal beaten into leaf or milled into powder.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 7429-90-5
- InChIKey
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- PubChem
- CID 5359268
The two specifications, compared
The European Union sets identity and purity by regulation; JECFA publishes its own through FAO, advisory until a country adopts it. Both documents are below in full. These are the parameters each puts a number on.
| Parameter | European Union | JECFA |
|---|---|---|
| Assay | no less than 99 % | no less than 99 % |
| Loss on drying | no more than 0.5 % | no more than 0.5 % |
| Lead | no more than 10 mg/kg | no more than 20 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | no more than 3 mg/kg | no more than 3 mg/kg |
| Mercury | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
| Cadmium | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
One parameter differs between the two documents. A difference is not a disagreement about safety: the two are revised on their own cycles, and an assay or a drying loss can be measured against a different preparation of the substance, which is why only the contaminant ceilings are marked. Within the EU the EU's figure is the one that binds.
How the EU defines it
The legal specification an additive must meet to be sold as this E number in the EU — what it is, how it may be made, and the purity it must reach. From Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
E 173 Aluminium
Aluminium powder is composed of finely divided particles of aluminium. The grinding may or may not be carried out in the presence of edible vegetable oils and/or food additive quality fatty acids. It is free from admixture with substances other than edible vegetable oils and/or food additive quality fatty acids.
Synonyms: CI Pigment Metal
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Colour Index No
- 77000
- Einecs
- 231-072-3
- Chemical name
- Aluminium
- Chemical formula
- Al
- Atomic weight
- 26,98
- Assay
- Not less than 99 % calculated as Al on an oil-free basis
- Description
- A silvery-grey powder or tiny sheets
Identification
- Solubility
- Insoluble in water and in organic solvents. Soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid.
- Test for aluminium
- A sample dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid passes test
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying
- Not more than 0,5 % (105 °C, to constant weight)
- Arsenic
- Not more than 3 mg/kg
- Lead
- Not more than 10 mg/kg
- Mercury
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
- Cadmium
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
INS 173 Aluminium powder
Produced by grinding aluminium that may be carried out in the presence of edible vegetable oils and/or food grade fatty acids.
Synonyms: CI Pigment Metal; CI (1975) No. 77000; INS No. 173
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 63 rd JECFA (2004) and published in the Combined Compendium of Food Additive Specifications, FAO JECFA Monographs 1 (2005). A PTWI of 2 mg/kg bw for aluminium was established at the 74 th JECFA (2011).
- Chemical names
- Aluminium
- C.A.S. number
- 7429-90-5
- Chemical formula
- Al
- Atomic weight
- 26.98
- Assay
- Not less than 99.0 %
- DESCRIPTION
- Silvery grey powder
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Colour (for surface only)
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Wash a small sample in hexane, repeating to remove traces of any associated oil or fatty acid. Transfer about 0.2 g of the sample, accurately weighed, to a 500 ml flask fitted with a rubber stopper carrying a 150 ml separating funnel, an inlet tube connected to a cylinder of carbon dioxide and an outlet tube dipping into a water-trap. Add 60 ml of freshly boiled and cooled water and disperse the sample, replace the air by carbon dioxide and add, by the separating funnel, 100 ml of a solution containing 56 g of ferric ammonium sulfate and 7.5 ml of sulfuric acid in freshly boiled and cooled water. While maintaining an atmosphere of carbon dioxide in the flask, heat to boiling and boil for 5 min. After the sample has dissolved, cool rapidly to 20°, and dilute to 250 ml with freshly boiled and cooled water. To 50 ml of this solution, add 15 ml of phosphoric acid and titrate with 0.1 N potassium permanganate. 1 ml of 0.1 N potassium permanganate is equivalent to 0.8994 mg of Al.
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Insoluble in water and in organic solvents, soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid.
- Test for aluminium (Vol. 4)
- A sample dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid passes test.
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 0.5 % (105°)
- Arsenic (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 3 mg/kg (Method II)
- Lead (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 20 mg/kg Weigh 5 g of sample and transfer to a beaker. Add 50 ml concentrated hydrochloric acid and heat on a hot plate until totally dissolved. Dilute with water to 100 ml in a volumetric flask. Determine using an atomic absorption technique appropriate to the specified level.
Every name it appears under
83 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
E number
- E173
CAS registry number
- 12011-61-9
- 7429-90-5
As it appears in regulation
- Aluminium
Other names
- Adom
- Aisin Metal Fiber
- Al
- Allbri aluminum paste and powder
- Alumina fibre
- aluminio
- Aluminium
- Aluminium 27
- aluminium atom
- Aluminium bronze
- Aluminium flake
- Aluminium metallicum
- aluminium powder
- ALUMINIUM POWDER (pyrophoric)
- aluminium(0)
- aluminium(3+) ion
- aluminium(III) cation
- Aluminium-27
- ALUMINUM
- Aluminum (Al)
- Aluminum - Al @ 1000 microg/g in Hydrocarbon Oil
- Aluminum - Al @ 5000 microg/g in Hydrocarbon Oil
- Aluminum 27
- Aluminum A00
- Aluminum AA Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HCl
- Aluminum dehydrated
- Aluminum foil
- Aluminum foil, 0.25mm (0.01in) thick, annealed
- Aluminum foil, 1.0mm (0.04in) thick, annealed
- Aluminum ingot
- Aluminum metal
- Aluminum Metallicum
- Aluminum powder
- Aluminum rod
- Aluminum shot
- Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10 microg/mL in 2% HNO3
- Aluminum Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HCl
- Aluminum Standard: Al @ 1000 microg/mL in 5% HNO3
- Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10000 microg/mL in 5% HCl
- Aluminum Standard: Al @ 10000 microg/mL in 5% HNO3
- ALUMINUM, ATOMIZED
- Aluminum, foil, thickness 0.025 mm, length 2 m, purity 99%
- Aluminum, foil, thickness 0.075 mm, length 1 m, purity 99%
- Aluminum-27
- BTS-CATALYST
- CI Pigment Metal
- COSMETIC ALUMINUM POWDER VP-1
- CPD4NFA903
- DIAMOND PIECE H TYPE, SILVER
- Dietary Aluminum
- E 173
- Emanay atomized aluminum powder
- INS NO.173
- INS-173
- JISC 3108
- JISC 3110
- Metallic aluminum
- Metana
- Metana aluminum paste
- Noral aluminum
- Noral Extra Fine Lining Grade
- Noral Ink Grade Aluminum
- Noral non-leafing grade
- Total Aluminum
Systematic names
- Aluminum
The EU re-evaluation programme
Every additive authorised in the EU before 20 January 2009 was put back through EFSA by Commission Regulation (EU) No 257/2010, and this one is named in it. What the Regulation required is below; whether the opinion has since been published is not something this site records.
- Already re-evaluated when the programme began. Listed in Annex I as “Aluminium”, against the words “Re-evaluation completed on 22 May 2008”, and therefore not re-evaluated again under it.
Hazard reference values
| Type | Value | Population | Assessed by | Opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADI | not allocated | — | JECFA | 1977 |
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is E 173?
- E 173 is Aluminium. Aluminium, as fine metallic leaf or powder, is permitted in the EU only as a silver-coloured external coating on sugar confectionery used to decorate cakes and pastries.
- What is Aluminium used for in food?
- It is listed as a colour — the role Canada and the EU assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Where is Aluminium permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the EU and Great Britain permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Aluminium vegan?
- Yes. Aluminium is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- anz retrieved 2026-10-17
- ca retrieved 2026-10-17
- eu retrieved 2026-10-18
- gb retrieved 2026-10-18
- euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.
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