What is Iron, elemental used for in food?

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

Is Iron, elemental banned in Europe?

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

Where is Iron, elemental 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 Iron, elemental vegan?

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

Iron, elemental

CAS 7439-89-6

Listed as a nutrient supplement by the US.

Listed as nutrient supplements (US)

United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: IRON, ELEMENTAL
United States: Nutrient supplements — 21 CFR 184.1375, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(20)

Structure from PubChem CID 23925 (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.

Elemental iron is finely powdered metallic iron used to fortify breakfast cereals and flour.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Iron, elemental 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 184.1375retrieved 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 Iron, elemental. 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

Produced by reducing iron oxide with hydrogen or carbon monoxide, or by electrolysis, then milling to a fine powder. It causes no off-flavour, which is why it is used despite being absorbed less well than the soluble salts.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 7439-89-6
InChIKey: XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem: CID 23925

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

7439-89-6

As it appears in regulation

Iron, elemental

Other names

3ZhP
Ancor B
Ancor en 80/150
Armco iron
Atomel 28
Atomel 300M200
Atomel 500M
Atomel 95
Atomiron 44MR
Atomiron 5M
Atomiron AFP 25
Atomiron AFP 5
ATW 230
ATW 432
Blood stop
Copy Powder CS 105-175
Diseases (animal), iron overload
Diseases, iron overload
DSP 1000
DSP 128B
DSP 135
DSP 135C
DSP 138
E1UOL152H7
EFV 200/300
EFV 250
EFV 250/400
Eisen
F 60 (metal)
Fe
Ferretts
ferrous iron
Ferrovac E
Ferrum metallicum
FT 3 (element)
HF 2 (element)
hierro
HL (iron)
Hoeganaes ATW 230
Hoeganaes EH
HQ (metal)
HS (iron)
IRON
Iron (Fe)
iron metal
Iron powder
Iron, elemental
LOHA
PZh-1M3
PZh-2
PZh1M1
PZh2M
PZh2M1
PZh2M2
PZh3
PZh3M
PZh4M
PZhO
Remko
SILVERDREAM POLARIS 60IL
SUY-B 2

Systematic names

Iron

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
Type	Value	Population	Assessed by	Opinion
ADI	not allocated	consumers	EFSA PPR	2024

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 Iron, elemental?: Elemental iron is finely powdered metallic iron used to fortify breakfast cereals and flour.
What is Iron, elemental used for in food?: It is listed as a nutrient supplement — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Iron, elemental banned in Europe?: No. Iron, elemental is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — nutrient supplement — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is Iron, elemental 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 Iron, elemental vegan?: Yes. Iron, elemental 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

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