Methyl cellulose

E number E461INS 461CAS 9004-67-5

Used as an emulsifier — Codex also lists it as bulking agent, glazing, agent, stabilizer, thickener.

Methylcellulose is a thickener with an unusual property: it gels when heated and melts when cooled, the reverse of gelatin. That behaviour is what holds many plant-based burgers together during cooking.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Methyl cellulose by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	Scope and limits	Citation
United StatesFood and Drug Administration	Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	Permitted, with conditions	17 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category 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 01.2.2 Renneted milk (plain) — 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 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 09.2.4.2 Cooked molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP 09.2.4.3 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 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 461and 17 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by treating purified cellulose with methylating agents. The cellulose comes from wood pulp or cotton; no animal material is involved.

Vegan
Vegetarian

CAS registry number: 9004-67-5

Every name it appears under

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

E number

E461

INS number

CAS registry number

9004-67-5

Other names

Cellulose methyl ether
E 461
METHYL CELLULOSE

Systematic names

(5R)-2,3,4-trimethoxy-6-(methoxymethyl)-5-[(2S)-3,4,5-trimethoxy-6-(methoxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxane

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

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/methyl-cellulose.json