Calcium citrate

INS 333(iii)

Used as an antioxidant — Codex also lists it as acidity regulator, emulsifying, salt, firming agent, sequestrant, stabilizer.

Calcium citrate is a firming agent, acidity regulator and calcium fortificant, used in canned vegetables, drinks and supplements.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Calcium citrate 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 184.1195retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

10 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 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
  • 02.1.1 Butter oil, anhydrous milkfat, ghee — GMP
  • 02.1.2 Vegetable oils and fats — GMP
  • 02.1.3 Lard, tallow, fish oil, and other animal fats — GMP
  • 04.2.2.1 Frozen vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds and nuts and seeds — GMP
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — GMP
  • 09.2 Processed fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 13.2 Complementary foods for infants and young children — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 333(iii)and 10 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by neutralising fermentation-derived citric acid with a calcium base.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
InChIKey
FNAQSUUGMSOBHW-UHFFFAOYSA-H
PubChem
CID 13136

Every name it appears under

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

INS number

  • 333(iii)

CAS registry number

  • 7693-13-2
  • 813-94-5

As it appears in regulation

  • Calcium citrate

Other names

  • 1,2,3-Propanetricarboxylic acid, 2-hydroxy-, calcium salt
  • 1,2,3-Propanetricarboxylic acid, 2-hydroxy-, calcium salt (2:3)
  • 2-Hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid calcium salt (2:3)
  • Acicontral
  • Calcemin Advance
  • Calcimax
  • Calcitrate
  • Calcium (as citrate)
  • Calcium 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylate (3:2)
  • calcium 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate (3/2)
  • calcium 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate (3:2)
  • Calcium citrate
  • Calcium citrate (3:2), tetrahydrate
  • Calcium Citrate anhydrous
  • Calcium citrate, AR,99%
  • Calcium citrate, tribasic
  • Calcium Citrates
  • Citracal
  • Citrate, Calcium
  • Citrates, Calcium
  • Citric acid, calcium salt (2:3)
  • Citrical
  • E-333(III)
  • FNAQSUUGMSOBHW-UHFFFAOYSA-H
  • HSDB 5756
  • INS NO.333(III)
  • INS-333(III)
  • MLM29U2X85
  • Tribasic calcium citrate
  • tricalcium bis(2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid)
  • tricalcium bis(citric acid)
  • TRICALCIUM CITRATE
  • tricalcium citrate tetrahydrate
  • Tricalcium dicitrate
  • Tricalcium dicitrate tetrahydrate
  • tricalcium;2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate

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-citrate.json