Ficin is a protein-digesting enzyme from fig latex, used as a meat tenderiser and in cheesemaking, in much the same way as papain and bromelain.

What is Ficin used for in food?

It is listed as an enzyme and a processing aid — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Ficin banned in Europe?

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

Where is Ficin 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.

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

Ficin: legal status by country — Food Additive Index

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Ficin by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	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	21 CFR 184.1316retrieved 2026-10-17
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 Ficin. 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

Collected as latex from fig trees, Ficus species, then purified.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 9001-33-6

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.

INS 1101(iv) Ficin

Synonyms: INS No.1101(iv)

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history: Prepared at the 25th JECFA (1981), published in FNP 19 (1981) and in FNP 52 (1992). No ADI was allocated at the 15th JECFA (1971)
SOURCES: Derived from the latex of Ficus sp., which include a variety of tropical fig trees.
Active principles: Ficin (cystein proteinase)
Systematic names and numbers: None (EC 3.4.22.3)
Reactions catalyzed: Hydrolyzes polypeptides, amides and esters, especially at linkages involving basic amino acids, or leucine or glycine, yielding peptides of lower molecular weight. Wide specificity on protein substrates.
DESCRIPTION: White to off-white powder; soluble in water (liquid fig latex concentrates are light brown to dark brown in colour).
FUNCTIONAL USES: Enzyme preparation Used in the preparation of and/or use in meat, beverages and bakery
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS: Must conform to the General Specifications for Enzyme Preparations used in Food Processing (see Volume Introduction)

Identification

Ficin activity (Vol. 4): The sample shows plant proteolytic activity

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

9001-33-6

As it appears in regulation

Ficin

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 Ficin?: Ficin is a protein-digesting enzyme from fig latex, used as a meat tenderiser and in cheesemaking, in much the same way as papain and bromelain.
What is Ficin used for in food?: It is listed as an enzyme and a processing aid — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Ficin banned in Europe?: No. Ficin is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — enzyme and processing aid — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is Ficin 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 Ficin vegan?: Yes. Ficin 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
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 Ficin:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.