Erythritol

E number E968INS 968CAS 149-32-6

Used as a sweetener — Codex also lists it as flavour enhancer, humectant.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol about seventy percent as sweet as sugar. Unlike the other polyols it is absorbed and then excreted largely unchanged, so it contributes little energy and causes less digestive upset.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Erythritol 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

2 food categories

highest permitted level 16,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 12.2.2 Seasonings and condiments — GMP
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — 16,000 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 968and 2 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Produced by fermenting glucose, normally from maize starch, with osmophilic yeasts, then crystallising the product. It also occurs naturally in some fruit and in fermented foods.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
149-32-6
InChIKey
UNXHWFMMPAWVPI-ZXZARUISSA-N
PubChem
CID 222285

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E968

INS number

  • 968

CAS registry number

  • 10030-58-7
  • 149-32-6

Other names

  • (2r,3s)-butane-1,2,
  • (2r,3s)-butane-1,2,3,4-tetraol
  • (2R,3S)-butane-1,2,3,4-tetrol
  • (2R,3S)-rel-Butane-1,2,3,4-tetraol
  • (2S,3R)-butane-1,2,3,4-tetrol
  • 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol
  • 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol, (2R,3S)-rel-
  • 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol, (R*,S*)-
  • 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol, (theta,S)-
  • 1,3,4-Butanetetrol, (R*,S*)-
  • 1,3,4-Tetrahydroxybutane
  • Antierythrite
  • BUTANE 1,2,3,4-TETROL (MESO-ERYTHRITOL)
  • Butanetetrol
  • C*Eridex
  • Cargill Zerose 16957
  • CAS-149-32-6
  • CCRIS 7901
  • D-ERYTHRITOL
  • E 968
  • Epitope ID:114707
  • Erythrit
  • Erythrite
  • ERYTHRITOL
  • ERYTHRITOL (EP MONOGRAPH)
  • Erythritol (NF)
  • Erythritol CRS
  • Erythritol, food grade
  • Erythritol, meso-
  • erythro-tetritol
  • Erythroglucin
  • Erythrol (VAN)
  • FEMA NO. 4819
  • HSDB 7968
  • i-Erythritol
  • INS NO.968
  • INS-968
  • L-(-)-Threitol
  • L-Erythritol
  • Lichen sugar
  • meso-1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroxybutane
  • Meso-erythritol
  • meso-Erythritol (Standard)
  • meso-Erythritol, 97%
  • meso-Erythritol, >=99%
  • meso-Erythritol, analytical standard
  • meso-Eythritol
  • Mesoerythritol
  • MRY
  • NIK 242
  • Paycite
  • Phycite
  • Phycitol
  • rel-(2R,3S)-butane-1,2,3,4-tetraol
  • Tetrahydroxybutane
  • WLN: Q1YQYQ1Q
  • ZEROSE TM 16957

Systematic names

  • (2S,3R)-butane-1,2,3,4-tetrol
  • meso-Erythritol; i-Erythritol; 1,2,3,4-Butanetetrol; meso-?1,2,3,4-?Tetrahydroxybutane

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI500 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSAnot 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

  • 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/erythritol.json