Calcium peroxide

CAS 1305-79-9

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

Listed as flour treatment agents (CA, US) · sequestrants (US) · dough strengtheners (US) · oxidising and reducing agents (US)
Chemical structure of Calcium peroxide, from PubChem compound 14779
Structure from PubChem CID 14779 (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.

An oxidising flour treatment agent: it releases oxygen slowly into dough, strengthening the gluten and drying the surface so that the dough handles better.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Calcium peroxide by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New ZealandNo 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 CanadaPermitted, with conditions

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

2 permitted uses

Show every permitted use
  • In: Bread. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: If used singly, the amount not to exceed 100 ppm of the flour. If used in combination with ammonium persulphate or potassium persulphate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 100 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item C.2(a)
  • In: Unstandardized bakery products. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item C.2(b)
Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSANo 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 ScotlandNo 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 AgencyNo 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 SafetyNo 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 AdministrationNot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot 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—1 GMP, 1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Calcium peroxide. 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 FDA’s inventory records

This page holds no listing for Calcium peroxide in the parts of 21 CFR this site reads. FDA’s Substances Added to Food inventory does carry it, as CALCIUM PEROXIDE, pointing at a standard of identity for a particular food: 21 CFR 136.11.

Technical effects FDA records: dough strengthener, flour treating agent, oxidizing or reducing agent, sequestrant.

The inventory is an information resource: a row means FDA holds information about the substance’s use in food, not that the substance is listed for that use. It is shown apart from the permissions above and is not counted as a US permission anywhere on this site.

What it is made from

Made by reacting calcium hydroxide with hydrogen peroxide.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
1305-79-9
InChIKey
LHJQIRIGXXHNLA-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 14779

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 1305-79-9
  • 78403-22-2

Other names

  • (eta~2~-Dioxidanediido)calcium
  • 7FRO2ENO91
  • Calcium dioxide
  • Calcium Peroxide
  • Calcium peroxide (Ca(O2))
  • Calciumperoxid
  • Calper
  • Calper G
  • cyc-CaO2
  • HSDB 965
  • Kalziumperoxid
  • peroxidocalcium

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 peroxide?
An oxidising flour treatment agent: it releases oxygen slowly into dough, strengthening the gluten and drying the surface so that the dough handles better.
What is Calcium peroxide 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.
Where is Calcium peroxide permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada permits 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 peroxide vegan?
Yes. Calcium peroxide 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

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