Gellan gum

E number E418INS 418(i)CAS 71010-52-1

Used as a gelling agent — Codex also lists it as stabilizer, thickener.

Gellan gum is a fermentation-derived gelling agent that works at very low concentrations. It is what keeps the cocoa suspended in chocolate milk and the pulp evenly distributed in some juices.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Gellan gum by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted, with conditions21 CFR 172.665retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

19 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 01.1.2 Other Fluid Milk (plain) — GMP
  • 01.2.1.1 Fermented milks (plain), not heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.4.1 Pasteurized cream (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.2 Sterilized and UHT creams, whipping and whipped creams, and reduced fat creams (plain) — GMP
  • 06.4.1 Fresh pastas and noodles and like products — GMP
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — GMP
  • 08.1.1 Fresh meat, poultry and game, whole pieces or cuts — GMP
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — GMP
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.3 Frozen minced and creamed fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — GMP
  • 09.2.4.3 Fried fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 10.2.1 Liquid egg products — GMP
  • 10.2.2 Frozen egg products — GMP
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — GMP
  • 12.1.2 Salt substitutes — GMP
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 418(i)and 19 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Produced by fermenting a sugar feedstock with the bacterium Sphingomonas elodea, then recovering and drying the polysaccharide.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
71010-52-1

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E418

INS number

  • 418(i)

CAS registry number

  • 71010-52-1

As it appears in regulation

  • Gellan gum

Other names

  • E 418
  • GELLAN
  • Gellan gum

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
  • 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/gellan-gum.json