Diacetyltartaric and fatty acid esters of glycerol

E number E472eINS 472e

Used as an emulsifier — Codex also lists it as sequestrant, stabilizer.

Known in the trade as DATEM, this is one of the most widely used bread improvers: it strengthens dough and gives a larger, more even loaf. Most industrial bread in Europe and North America contains it.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Diacetyltartaric and fatty acid esters of glycerol by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
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 / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

63 food categories

highest permitted level 50,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.2 Other Fluid Milk (plain) — 120 mg/kg
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.2.2 Renneted milk (plain) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.3.2 Beverage whiteners — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.4.2 Sterilized and UHT creams, whipping and whipped creams, and reduced fat creams (plain) — 6,000 mg/kg
  • 01.4.3 Clotted cream (plain) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.4.4 Cream analogues — 6,000 mg/kg
  • 01.5.1 Milk powder and cream powder (plain) — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.5.2 Milk and cream powder analogues — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.1 Ripened cheese, includes rind — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4 Processed cheese — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.1.2 Vegetable oils and fats — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.1.3 Lard, tallow, fish oil, and other animal fats — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.10 Fermented fruit products — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.2 Dried fruit — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.3 Fruit in vinegar, oil, or brine — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.7 Candied fruit — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.2 Dried vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds, and nuts and seeds — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.3 Vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds in vinegar, oil, brine, or soybean sauce — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.6 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed pulps and preparations (e.g. vegetable desserts and sauces, candied vegetables) other than food category 04.2.2.5 — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.7 Fermented vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera) and seaweed products, excluding fermented soybean products of food categories 06.8.6, 06.8.7, 12.9.1, — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.8 Cooked or fried vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), and seaweeds — 2,500 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 50,000 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 06.2 Flours and starches (including soybean powder) — 3,000 mg/kg
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 06.6 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 06.8.1 Soybean-based beverages — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 07.1 Bread and ordinary bakery wares and mixes — 6,000 mg/kg
  • 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 10.2.3 Dried and/or heat coagulated egg products — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 10.4 Egg-based desserts (e.g. custard) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 12.1.2 Salt substitutes — 16,000 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 12.6 Sauces and like products — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 12.7 Salads (e.g. macaroni salad, potato salad) and sandwich spreads excluding cocoa-and nut-based spreads of food categories 04.2.2.5 and 05.1.3 — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.4 Dietetic formulae for slimming purposes and weight reduction — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.5 Dietetic foods (e.g. supplementary foods for dietary use) excluding products of food categories — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — 500 mg/kg
  • 14.2.2 Cider and perry — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.4 Wines (other than grape) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.6 Distilled spirituous beverages containing more than 15% alcohol — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 15.2 Processed nuts, including coated nuts and nut mixtures (with e.g. dried fruit) — 10,000 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 472eand 62 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by esterifying mono- and diglycerides with diacetyltartaric acid. The underlying fat may be plant or animal, so DATEM in a loaf does not settle whether the bread is vegetarian.

  • Vegan status depends on the source
  • Vegetarian status depends on the source
  • May raise a halal question
  • May raise a kosher question

This is not an omission. What this additive is made from is not fixed — depending on the manufacturer it may be plant, animal or microbial in origin, nobody is required to say which, and the same product can change source between production runs. Ask the manufacturer if it matters to you; a label cannot answer it.

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E472e

INS number

  • 472e

Other names

  • DIACETYLTARTARIC AND FATTY ACID ESTERS OF GLYCEROL
  • E 472e
  • Mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI600 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA FAF2020

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

  • 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/diacetyltartaric-and-fatty-acid-esters-of-glycerol.json