Malic acid

E number E296INS 296CAS 6915-15-7

Used as an acidity regulator — Codex also lists it as sequestrant.

Malic acid is the sharp acid of green apples, used to give tartness to confectionery, soft drinks and fruit preparations. It has a longer-lasting sourness than citric acid, which is why sour sweets use it.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Malic acid by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1069retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

21 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.6.6 Whey protein cheese — GMP
  • 04.2.2.1 Frozen vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds and nuts and seeds — GMP
  • 04.2.2.7 Fermented vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera) and seaweed products, excluding fermented soybean products of food categories 06.8.6, 06.8.7, 12.9.1, — GMP
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — 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 Cooked and/or fried fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 12.1.2 Salt substitutes — GMP
  • 13.2 Complementary foods for infants and young children — GMP
  • 14.1.2.1 Fruit juice — GMP
  • 14.1.2.2 Vegetable juice — GMP
  • 14.1.2.3 Concentrates for fruit juice — GMP
  • 14.1.2.4 Concentrates for vegetable juice — GMP
  • 14.1.3.1 Fruit nectar — GMP
  • 14.1.3.2 Vegetable nectar — GMP
  • 14.1.3.3 Concentrates for fruit nectar — GMP
  • 14.1.3.4 Concentrates for vegetable nectar — GMP
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — GMP
  • 14.2.3 Grape wines — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 296and 21 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Produced industrially by hydrating maleic or fumaric acid, both petroleum-derived, giving the DL form. The single L form found in fruit is made by fermentation and is listed separately in some jurisdictions.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
6915-15-7
InChIKey
BJEPYKJPYRNKOW-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 525

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E296

INS number

  • 296

CAS registry number

  • 617-48-1
  • 6915-15-7

As it appears in regulation

  • Malic acid

Other names

  • (+-)-1-Hydroxy-1,2-ethanedicarboxylic acid
  • (+-)-Hydroxysuccinic acid
  • (+-)-Malic acid
  • (+/-)-2-Hydroxysuccinic acid
  • (+/-)-Malic acid
  • (R)-Hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • (S)-Hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • 2-Hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • 2-Hydroxyethane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid
  • 2-Hydroxysuccinic acid
  • 817L1N4CKP
  • Aepfelsaeure
  • alpha-Hydroxysuccinic acid
  • Apple acid
  • butanedioic acid, 2-hydroxy-
  • Butanedioic acid, hydroxy-
  • BUTANEDIOIC ACID, HYDROXY-, (S)-
  • Caswell No. 537
  • CCRIS 2950
  • CCRIS 6567
  • d,l-malic acid
  • Deoxytetraric acid
  • DL-2-hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • DL-Apple Acid
  • dl-Hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • DL-Malic Acid
  • E 296
  • EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 051101
  • FDA 2018
  • FEMA No. 2655
  • FEMA Number 2655
  • HSDB 1202
  • hydron;2-hydroxybutanedioate
  • Hydroxybutandisaeure
  • hydroxybutanedioic acid
  • Hydroxybutanedioic acid, (+-)-
  • Hydroxybutanedioic acid, (-)-
  • Hydroxyethane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid
  • hydroxysuccinic acid
  • INS NO.296
  • INS-296
  • Kyselina hydroxybutandiova
  • Kyselina jablecna
  • L-Malic acid-1-13C
  • malate
  • malate acid
  • Malic acid
  • Malic acid (NF)
  • Malic Acid 1524
  • Malic acid, DL-
  • Malicum acidum
  • Monohydroxybernsteinsaeure
  • MOOYAM AHA BHA FACE SERUM
  • Musashi-no-Ringosan
  • Pomalous acid
  • Pomalus acid
  • R,S(+-)-Malic acid
  • Succinic acid, hydroxy-

Systematic names

  • 2-Hydroxybutanedioic acid

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/malic-acid.json