Calcium alginate

E number E404INS 404CAS 9005-35-0

Used as a thickener — Codex also lists it as antifoaming agent, bulking agent, carrier, foaming agent, gelling, agent, glazing agent, humectant, sequestrant, stabilizer.

Calcium alginate forms a firm gel and is used to make structured foods such as restructured fruit pieces and the casings of some products.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Calcium alginate 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 184.1187retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

11 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 01.2.1.1 Fermented milks (plain), not heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.4.1 Pasteurized cream (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.2 Sterilized and UHT creams, whipping and whipped creams, and reduced fat creams (plain) — GMP
  • 04.1.1.2 Surface-treated fresh fruit — GMP
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — GMP
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 10.2.1 Liquid egg products — GMP
  • 10.2.2 Frozen egg products — GMP
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 404and 11 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by reacting alginate with a calcium salt, which cross-links the chains into a gel. The alginate comes from brown seaweed.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
9005-35-0

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E404

INS number

  • 404

CAS registry number

  • 9005-35-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Calcium alginate

Other names

  • Calcium alginate
  • E 404

Systematic names

  • calcium beta-D-mannopyranuronosyl-(1- greater than 4)-alpha-L-gulopyranuronosyl-(1- greater than 4)-alpha-L-gulopyranuronate

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/calcium-alginate.json