What is Lactylic esters of fatty acids used for in food?

It is listed as an emulsifier — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Lactylic esters of fatty acids banned in Europe?

No. Lactylic esters of fatty acids does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.

Where is Lactylic esters of fatty acids permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.

Is Lactylic esters of fatty acids vegan?

It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Lactylic esters of fatty acids can be made from plant or animal material, manufacturers are not obliged to say which, and the same product can change between production runs. Anyone who needs to know has to ask the manufacturer.

Lactylic esters of fatty acids

Listed as an emulsifier by Canada and the US.

Listed as emulsifiers (CA, US) · thickeners (CA) · stabilisers (CA) · formulation aids (US) · surface-active agents (US)

Canada: Emulsifying, stabilizing or thickening agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents (List 4)
United States: Emulsifier or emulsifier salt — FDA, Substances Added to Food: LACTYLIC ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS
Canada: Emulsifying, stabilizing or thickening agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents (List 4)
Canada: Emulsifying, stabilizing or thickening agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents (List 4)
United States: Formulation aid — FDA, Substances Added to Food: LACTYLIC ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS
United States: Surface-active agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: LACTYLIC ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS

Lactylic esters of fatty acids are emulsifiers and dough conditioners, used in baked goods and whipped products.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Lactylic esters of fatty acids 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	Permitted	no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) 2 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Emulsifying, stabilizing or thickening agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents (List 4), item L.2 In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Plasticizing agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item L.2	Health Canadaand 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17
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		21 CFR 172.848retrieved 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.

Canada	—	2 GMP
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Lactylic esters of fatty acids. 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 reacting fatty acids with lactic acid. The fatty acids may be plant or animal in origin.

Vegan status depends on the source
Vegetarian status depends on the source
May raise a halal question
May raise a kosher question

This is not an omission. What this additive is made from is not fixed — depending on the manufacturer it may be plant, animal or microbial in origin, nobody is required to say which, and the same product can change source between production runs. Ask the manufacturer if it matters to you; a label cannot answer it.

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

Lactylic esters of fatty acids

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 Lactylic esters of fatty acids?: Lactylic esters of fatty acids are emulsifiers and dough conditioners, used in baked goods and whipped products.
What is Lactylic esters of fatty acids used for in food?: It is listed as an emulsifier — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Lactylic esters of fatty acids banned in Europe?: No. Lactylic esters of fatty acids does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is Lactylic esters of fatty acids permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada and the US permit it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Is Lactylic esters of fatty acids vegan?: It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Lactylic esters of fatty acids can be made from plant or animal material, manufacturers are not obliged to say which, and the same product can change between production runs. Anyone who needs to know has to ask the manufacturer.

Sources for this page

ca retrieved 2026-10-17
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 Lactylic esters of fatty acids:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.