Corn sugar

CAS 50-99-7

Listed as a colour, a sweetener and a thickener by the US.

Listed as colours (US) · sweeteners (US) · thickeners (US) · flavour enhancers (US) · stabilisers (US) · humectants (US) · anticaking agents (US) · flavouring agents and adjuvants (US) · lubricants and release agents (US) · solvents and vehicles (US)
Chemical structure of Corn sugar, from PubChem compound 5793
Structure from PubChem CID 5793 (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.

Corn sugar is dextrose — glucose — produced from maize starch. It is used as a sweetener, a bulking agent and a fermentation feedstock.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Corn sugar 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 CanadaNo listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here.
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 AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1857retrieved 2026-10-17
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.

United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Corn sugar. 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 a label must say

Words a food containing Corn sugar is obliged to carry, quoted from the instrument that imposes them. A required statement is a fact about the regulation, not a finding about the substance — every rule below applies where the additive is authorised.

Every rule collected at what a label must say.

What it is made from

Made by hydrolysing maize starch with acid or enzymes to free glucose, then crystallising it.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
50-99-7
InChIKey
WQZGKKKJIJFFOK-GASJEMHNSA-N
PubChem
CID 5793

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 50-99-7

As it appears in regulation

  • Corn sugar

Other names

  • (3R,4S,5S,6R)-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-2,3,4,5-tetrol
  • anhydrous glucose
  • Basic Dental Emergency Kit
  • Blood Collection System
  • Blood sugar
  • Cartose
  • Cerelose
  • Cerelose 2001
  • Clintec
  • Corn sugar
  • D Glucose
  • D-Glc
  • D-gluco-hexose
  • D-Glucopyranose
  • d-glucopyranoside
  • D-Glucose in linear
  • Dextro energy
  • Dextrogel
  • Dextropur
  • Dextrose
  • Dextrose 10% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 2.5% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 20% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 25%
  • Dextrose 30% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 38.5% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 40% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 5% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 50% in plastic container
  • DEXTROSE 60%
  • Dextrose 60% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 7.7% in plastic container
  • Dextrose 70% in plastic container
  • Dextrosol
  • Gambrosol
  • glc
  • Glc (SNFG)
  • Glucolin
  • Glucopyranose
  • glucose
  • GLUCOSE, ALPHA-D-
  • Glucose, unspecified
  • Glucosteril
  • Glucosum, anhydrous
  • GLUS
  • Goldsugar
  • Grape sugar
  • Gsf-syrup
  • Leukotrap
  • Leukotrap-CP2D Solution
  • LINGTEA
  • Maxim Energy Gel
  • Monohydrate, Glucose
  • Purified Glucose
  • Rapilose
  • SNFG:Glc
  • Staleydex 111
  • Staleydex 333
  • Tabfine 097(HS)
  • Traubenzucker
  • Vadex
  • Yourgluco

Systematic names

  • (3R,4S,5S,6R)-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-2,3,4,5-tetrol

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 Corn sugar?
Corn sugar is dextrose — glucose — produced from maize starch. It is used as a sweetener, a bulking agent and a fermentation feedstock.
What is Corn sugar used for in food?
It is listed as a colour, a sweetener and a thickener — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Corn sugar banned in Europe?
No. Corn sugar 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 Corn sugar permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US 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 Corn sugar vegan?
Yes. Corn sugar is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

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