Carnauba wax

E number E903INS 903CAS 8015-86-9

Used as an acidity regulator — Codex also lists it as anticaking agent, bulking agent, carrier, glazing agent.

Carnauba wax is the hardest natural wax, used to glaze confectionery, coated sweets, fresh fruit and tablets. It is the shine on a jelly bean.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Carnauba wax 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 184.1978retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

13 food categories

highest permitted level 5,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 04.1.1.2 Surface-treated fresh fruit — 400 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2 Processed fruit — 400 mg/kg
  • 04.2.1.2 Surface-treated fresh vegetables, (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds and nuts and seeds — 400 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 1,200 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 4,000 mg/kg
  • 07.0 Bakery wares — GMP
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 200 mg/kg
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — 200 mg/kg
  • 15.0 Ready-to-eat savouries — 200 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 903and 12 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Collected from the leaves of the Brazilian carnauba palm, Copernicia prunifera, which secretes it to reduce water loss. The leaves are dried and the wax beaten off, so the tree is not felled.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
8015-86-9

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E903

INS number

  • 903

CAS registry number

  • 8015-86-9

As it appears in regulation

  • Carnauba wax

Other names

  • Carnauba wax
  • E 903

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI7 mg/kg bwconsumersEFSAnot identified in the dataset

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/carnauba-wax.json