Benzoyl peroxide

INS 928CAS 94-36-0

Used as a preservative — Codex also lists it as bleaching agent, flour treatment agent.

Benzoyl peroxide is a flour bleaching agent, used to whiten freshly milled flour faster than it would whiten on its own. It is permitted in the United States but not in the European Union.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Benzoyl peroxide by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1157retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

3 food categories

highest permitted level 100 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.8.1 Liquid whey and whey products, excluding whey cheeses — 100 mg/kg
  • 01.8.2 Dried whey and whey products, excluding whey cheeses — 100 mg/kg
  • 06.2.1 Flours — 75 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 928and 2 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Synthesised from benzoyl chloride and hydrogen peroxide. It decomposes to benzoic acid during use, which is why the flour does not retain the peroxide itself.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
94-36-0
InChIKey
OMPJBNCRMGITSC-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 7187

Every name it appears under

62 recorded names. A label may use any of them.

INS number

  • 928

CAS registry number

  • 94-36-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Benzoyl peroxide

Other names

  • Acetoxyl
  • Acnegel
  • Akneroxid 5
  • Akneroxide L
  • Asidopan
  • Aztec BPO
  • Benoxyl
  • Benzac
  • Benzac W
  • Benzaknen
  • Benzoic acid, peroxide
  • Benzol peroxide
  • Benzoperoxide
  • benzoyl benzenecarboperoxoate
  • BENZOYL PEROXIDE
  • Benzoyl superoxide
  • Benzoylperoxid
  • Benzoylperoxyde
  • Brevoxyl
  • Cadox B
  • Cadox bs
  • Clear By Design
  • Debroxide
  • Desanden
  • Desquam E
  • Dibenzoyl peroxide
  • Dibenzoylperoxid
  • Dibenzoylperoxyde
  • Diphenylglyoxal peroxide
  • Dry and Clear
  • Duresthin 5
  • Eloxyl
  • Epi-Clear
  • Garox
  • Incidol
  • Loroxide
  • Lucidol
  • Lucidol B 50
  • Lucidol G 20
  • Luperco AA
  • Luperco AST
  • Luperox fl
  • Mytolac
  • Nayper B and bo
  • Nayper BO
  • Novadelox
  • Oxylite
  • Panoxyl
  • Perossido di benzoile
  • Peroxide, dibenzoyl
  • Peroxyde de benzoyle
  • Persa-Gel
  • Persadox
  • Quinolor compound
  • Resdan Akne
  • Theraderm
  • Topex
  • Vanoxide
  • Xerac

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
  • gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/benzoyl-peroxide.json