What is Ethyl lactate used for in food?

It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Ethyl lactate banned in Europe?

No. Ethyl lactate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.

Where is Ethyl lactate 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 Ethyl lactate vegan?

Yes. Ethyl lactate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Ethyl lactate

CAS 97-64-3

Listed as a flavouring agent by the US.

Listed as flavouring agents and adjuvants (US)

United States: Flavoring agent or adjuvant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: ETHYL LACTATE

Structure from PubChem CID 7344 (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.

Ethyl lactate is the ethyl ester of lactic acid, used as a carrier solvent and as a flavouring agent. It is a colourless liquid with a characteristic odour.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Ethyl lactate by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	Scope and limits	Citation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New Zealand	No 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 Canada	No 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 / EFSA	No 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 Scotland	No 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 Agency	No 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 Safety	No 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 Administration	Permitted, with conditions	Named in the list of synthetic flavoring substances and adjuvants in 21 CFR 172.515(b), which may be safely used in food in the minimum quantity required to produce their intended effect. The section is held on this site as the page synthetic-flavoring-substances-and-adjuvants; read it for the conditions.	21 CFR 172.515retrieved 2026-10-18
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	Not 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 Ethyl lactate. 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 it is made from

Made by esterifying lactic acid, itself usually made by fermentation, with ethanol.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 97-64-3
InChIKey: LZCLXQDLBQLTDK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem: CID 7344

How JECFA defines it

The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.

Ethyl Lactate

Synonyms: Lactic acid ethyl ester, ethyl 2-hydroxypropionate Ethyl 2-hydroxypropionate; Lactic acid ethyl ester

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history: Prepared at the 26th JECFA (1982), published in FNP 25 (1982) and in FNP 52 (1992) superseding specifications prepared at the 24th JECFA (1980), published in FNP 17 (1980). An ADI 'not specified' was established at the 26th JECFA (1982)
Chemical names: Ethyl lactate
C.A.S. number: 97-64-3
Chemical formula: C 5 H 10 O 3
Formula weight: 118.13
Assay: Not less than 98%
DESCRIPTION: Colourless liquid with a characteristic odour
FUNCTIONAL USES: Flavouring agent, carrier solvent (See ‘Flavouring agents’ monograph, JECFA no. 931)
METHOD OF ASSAY: Weigh accurately about 0.1 g of the sample and proceed as directed under Ester Determination (see Volume 4) using 59.07 as the equivalence factor (e) in the calculation.

Identification

Solubility (Vol. 4): Very soluble in water, ethanol, ether and chloroform
Refractive index (Vol. 4): n (20, D): 1.410 - 1.420
Specific gravity (Vol. 4): d (20, 20): 1.031 - 1.036 d (25, 25): 1.028 - 1.033

Purity criteria

Non-volatile residue (Vol. 4): Not more than 0.01%
Acid value (Vol. 4) Residual solvent: Not more than 1 Not more than 1% ethanol and not more than 0.01% carbon tetrachloride See description under TESTS
Test: Residual solvent: Determined using gas-liquid chromatography under the following conditions: Column - length: 1.5 m - diameter: 4 mm - material: glass - packing: 20% PEG on Chromosorb W Temperatures - injection: 110 o - column: 110 o , isothermal - detector: 300 o Detector: FID Carrier gas: nitrogen Flow rate: 3.5 L/h Sample size: 1 μl Ethanol The sample containing 0.5% added ethanol is injected into the column. The peak produced by the ethanol is compared with the ethanol peak from the sample without added ethanol. The ethanol content of the sample is estimated from the comparison. Carbon tetrachloride The same procedure as for ethanol is used except that 0.01% carbon tetrachloride is added to the sample instead of ethanol.

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

2676-33-7
97-64-3

Other names

(+-)-Ethyl 2-hydroxypropanoate
(+-)-Ethyl 2-hydroxypropionate
(+-)-ETHYL LACTATE
(+/-)-ETHYL 2-HYDROXYPROPIONATE
(+/-)-LACTIC ACID ETHYL ESTER
(-)-Ethyl L-lactate Natural, Kosher Certified
(.+/-.)-Ethyl lactate
(2R)-2-Hydroxy-propanoic acid ethyl ester
(R)-Ethyl D-lactate;(2R)-2-Hydroxypropionic acid ethyl ester
2-hydroxy-propionic acid ethyl ester
2-Hydroxypropanoic acid ethyl ester
2-Hydroxypropionic Acid Ethyl Ester
4-03-00-00643 (Beilstein Handbook Reference)
Actylol
Acytol
BRN 1209448
CAS-97-64-3
DL-Ethyl Lactate
Ethyl .alpha.-hydroxypropionate
Ethyl 2-hydroxypropanoate
Ethyl 2-hydroxypropanoate #
Ethyl 2-hydroxypropionate
Ethyl alpha-hydroxypropionate
ethyl DL-lactate
Ethyl ester of lactic acid
Ethyl L -lactate
Ethyl lactate
Ethyl lactate (natural)
Ethyl lactate, >=98%, FCC, FG
Ethyl lactate, natural, >=98%, FCC, FG
Ethyl lactate, SAJ first grade, >=97.5%
Ethyl racemic-lactate
ethyl-lactate
Ethylester kyseliny mlecne
Eusolvan
FEMA 2440
FEMA No. 2440
HSDB 412
Lactate d'ethyle
Lactic acid ethyl ester
lactic acid ethylester
Lactic acid-ethyl ester
Milchsaureathylester
Mono-Ethyl mono-lactate
Propanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-, ethyl ester
PURASOLV ELS
Solactol
VERTECBIO EL
WLN: QVY1 & O2

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 Ethyl lactate?: Ethyl lactate is the ethyl ester of lactic acid, used as a carrier solvent and as a flavouring agent. It is a colourless liquid with a characteristic odour.
What is Ethyl lactate used for in food?: It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Ethyl lactate banned in Europe?: No. Ethyl lactate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is Ethyl lactate 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 Ethyl lactate vegan?: Yes. Ethyl lactate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

us-listings retrieved 2026-10-18
jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23

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 Ethyl lactate:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.