Coumarin

CAS 91-64-5

Coumarin is a sweet, hay-scented compound found naturally in tonka beans, cassia cinnamon and sweet clover. The FDA prohibited its use as an added food ingredient in the United States in 1954; it may still be present in food naturally, for example in cassia cinnamon.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Coumarin by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationProhibited21 CFR 189.130retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

What it is made from

Occurs naturally in tonka beans and several plants, and can also be synthesised from salicylaldehyde. The prohibition applies to coumarin added to food, not to its natural presence in spices and other plant material.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
91-64-5
InChIKey
ZYGHJZDHTFUPRJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 323

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 103802-83-1
  • 91-64-5

As it appears in regulation

  • Coumarin

Other names

  • 1,2-Benzopyrone
  • 1-benzopyran-2-one
  • 2-Oxo-1,2-benzopyran
  • 2-oxo-2H-1-benzopyran
  • 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-, .delta.-lactone
  • 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-, d-lactone
  • 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-, delta-lactone
  • 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-delta-lactone
  • 2H-1-Benzopyran, 2-oxo-
  • 2H-1-Benzopyran-2-one
  • 2H-Benzo(b)pyran-2-one
  • 2H-Benzopyran-2-one
  • 2H-Chromen-2-one
  • 2h-chromene-2-one
  • 3-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoic delta-lactone
  • 5,6-Benzo-2-pyrone
  • 5,6-Benzo-alpha-pyrone
  • a coumarin
  • Benzo-.alpha.-pyrone
  • Benzo-a-pyrone
  • Benzo-alpha-pyrone
  • benzopyranone
  • benzopyrylium olate
  • BRN 0383644
  • CAS-91-64-5
  • Caswell No. 259C
  • CCRIS 181
  • chromen-2-one
  • chromen-one
  • chromenone
  • Cinnamic acid, o-hydroxy-, delta-lactone
  • cis-o-Coumaric acid anhydride
  • cis-o-Coumarinic acid lactone
  • COU
  • Coumarin
  • Coumarin (prohibited)
  • Coumarin 1513
  • Coumarin CRS
  • Coumarin Phenolic
  • Coumarin, >=98%
  • coumarin-
  • Coumarine
  • Coumarinic anhydride
  • Coumarinic lactone
  • Coumarinum
  • cumarin
  • EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 127301
  • HSDB 1623
  • Kumarin
  • Lodema
  • NCI C07103
  • o-Coumaric acid lactone
  • o-hydroxycinnamic acid delta-lactone
  • o-Hydroxycinnamic acid lactone
  • o-Hydroxycinnamic lactone
  • o-Hydroxyzimtsaure-lacton
  • Rattex
  • Tonka bean camphor

Systematic names

  • chromen-2-one

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

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/coumarin.json