β-Ionone is a ketone of the ionone group. South Korea lists it among its flavouring substances, and 21 CFR 172.515 names it among the synthetic flavoring substances and adjuvants that may be used in food. FDA's inventory gives it FEMA number 2595.

What is β-Ionone used for in food?

It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is β-Ionone banned in Europe?

No. β-Ionone is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.

Where is β-Ionone permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, South Korea and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.

β-Ionone: legal status by country

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of β-Ionone by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	Scope and limits	Citation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New Zealand	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
CanadaHealth Canada	No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here.
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSA	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
Great BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards Scotland	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
JapanConsumer Affairs Agency	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 KoreaMinistry of Food and Drug Safety	Permitted, with conditions	Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. … Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. 일반식품첨가물 (general food additives), β-이오논 (“β-Ionone”, the English the Code prints beside it). Main use (주용도) of β-이오논: 향료. Standard for use (사용기준) of β-이오논: (1) [may be used only for flavouring] “β-이오논은 착향의 목적에 한하여 사용하여야 한다.” The Korean is the standard as published. There is no official English translation of the current Code (the English version on MFDS’s website is the 2020 edition and has no legal effect); the English in square brackets is this site’s description of what each sentence does, not a translation of the foods or the levels. Compositional specifications (Part IV) are not imported, nor are the general standards in Part II, which apply to every additive.	Standards and Specifications for Food Additives (식품첨가물의 기준 및 규격), MFDS Notification, Part III (Standards for use, by item)retrieved 2026-10-18
United StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted, with conditions	Named in the list of synthetic flavoring substances and adjuvants in 21 CFR 172.515(b), which may be safely used in food in the minimum quantity required to produce their intended effect. The section is held on this site as the page synthetic-flavoring-substances-and-adjuvants; read it for the conditions.	21 CFR 172.515retrieved 2026-10-18
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	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.

South Korea	—	1 no quantity stated
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for β-Ionone. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.

What it is made from

The sources cited here do not say how it is made, so this page claims no route.

CAS registry number: 14901-07-6

Every name it appears under

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

Other names

beta-Ionone
β-Ionone

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 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 β-Ionone?: β-Ionone is a ketone of the ionone group. South Korea lists it among its flavouring substances, and 21 CFR 172.515 names it among the synthetic flavoring substances and adjuvants that may be used in food. FDA's inventory gives it FEMA number 2595.
What is β-Ionone used for in food?: It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is β-Ionone banned in Europe?: No. β-Ionone is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is β-Ionone permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, South Korea and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.

Sources for this page

kr retrieved 2026-10-18
us-listings retrieved 2026-10-18

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.

Follow changes to β-Ionone:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.