What is Calcium iodate used for in food?

It is listed as a flour treatment agent — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Calcium iodate banned in Europe?

No. Calcium iodate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.

Where is Calcium iodate permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada 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.

Is Calcium iodate vegan?

Yes. Calcium iodate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Calcium iodate

CAS 7789-80-2

Listed as a flour treatment agent by Canada and the US.

Listed as flour treatment agents (CA, US) · dough strengtheners (US) · nutrient supplements (US) · processing aids (US)

Canada: Flour treatment agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)
United States: Flour treating agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: CALCIUM IODATE
United States: Dough strengthener — FDA, Substances Added to Food: CALCIUM IODATE
United States: Dough strengtheners — 21 CFR 184.1206, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(6)
United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: CALCIUM IODATE
United States: Processing aid — FDA, Substances Added to Food: CALCIUM IODATE

Structure from PubChem CID 24619 (National Library of Medicine, public domain). A depiction of one compound: where a listing covers a family, or a substance has no single structure, this page shows none.

Calcium iodate is an iodine source for salt iodisation and animal feed, and has also been used as a dough conditioner.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Calcium iodate 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	Permitted, with conditions	2 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Bread. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: If used singly, the amount not to exceed 45 ppm of the flour. If used in combination with potassium iodate, the total combined amount not to exceed 45 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item C.1(a) In: Unstandardized bakery products. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: 45 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item C.1(b)	Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17
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	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 StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted		21 CFR 184.1206retrieved 2026-10-17
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.

Canada	—	2 no quantity stated
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Calcium iodate. 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

Produced by reacting iodine with calcium hydroxide under oxidising conditions.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 7789-80-2
InChIKey: UHWJJLGTKIWIJO-UHFFFAOYSA-L
PubChem: CID 24619

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

40563-56-2
7789-80-2

As it appears in regulation

Calcium iodate

Other names

Autarite
CaI2O6
Calcium iodate
Calcium iodate (Ca(IO3)2)
calcium;diiodate
HSDB 986
Iodic acid (HIO3), calcium salt
Iodic acid, calcium salt
Lautarite
UHWJJLGTKIWIJO-UHFFFAOYSA-L

Systematic names

Calcium;diiodate

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 Calcium iodate?: Calcium iodate is an iodine source for salt iodisation and animal feed, and has also been used as a dough conditioner.
What is Calcium iodate used for in food?: It is listed as a flour treatment agent — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Calcium iodate banned in Europe?: No. Calcium iodate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is Calcium iodate permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada 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.
Is Calcium iodate vegan?: Yes. Calcium iodate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

ca retrieved 2026-10-17
ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17

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 Calcium iodate:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.