Oat lecithin
E 322a · Oat lecithin · E322a · Oat lecithin · Auzu lecitīns · Avižų lecitinas · Haferlecithin · Haverlecithine · Havrelecithin · Havrelecitin · Kaeraletsitiin · Kauralesitiini · Lecitina de aveia · Lecitina de avena · Lecitina di avena · Lecitină de ovăz · Lecytyna owsiana · Leċitina tal-ħafur · Lécithine d’avoine · Oat lecithin · Ovesný lecitin · ovseni lecitin · Ovsený lecitín · Zablecitin · Zobeni lecitin · Λεκιθίνη βρώμης · Овесен лецитинE number E322a
Oat lecithin is permitted in the EU only in cocoa and chocolate products, as an emulsifier. It gives chocolate makers a lecithin that is neither soya nor sunflower.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and 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. | ||
| 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 Union | Permitted, with conditions | 1 food category highest permitted level 20,000 mg/kg ML = 20000 mg/kg. | Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II, as amended by (EU) No 1023/2022retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Great Britain | 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. | ||
| Japan | 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 Korea | 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 States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | 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.
| European Union | 20,000 mg/kg | 1 numeric limit |
|---|
What it is made from
Extracted from oats, where it occurs in the oil fraction of the grain.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
Allergen labelling
- From cereals containing gluten. Extracted from oats, which Annex II item 1 lists among cereals containing gluten.
The EU’s list of allergens an ingredients list must emphasise is Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (consolidated text of 1 April 2025). Whether a product must declare one depends on what its additive was actually made from, which the label may not show; see the allergen origin index.
How the EU defines it
The legal specification an additive must meet to be sold as this E number in the EU — what it is, how it may be made, and the purity it must reach. From Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
E 322a Oat lecithin
Oat lecithin is a fractionated oat oil rich in polar lipids, mainly galactolipids. Oat lecithin is produced from food grade oat kernels that are sieved and extracted using ethanol at an elevated temperature to produce a crude lipid extract. This crude extract undergoes multistage evaporation and filtration, yielding crude oat oil, which is separated, evaporated and filtered to produce oat lecithin. Only ethanol may be used in the extraction as extraction solvent.
Synonyms: Fractionated oat oil
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Einecs
- 281-672-4
- Assay
- Not less than 30 % of polar lipids insoluble in acetone
- Description
- Yellowish-brown viscous liquid
Identification
- Choline
- Not more than 2 g/100 g
- Phosphorous
- Not less than 0,5 %
- Polar lipids
- Not less than 35 % w/w
- Neutral lipids
- 55–65 % w/w
- Saturated
- 17–20 % w/w
- Monounsaturated
- 38–42 % w/w
- Polyunsaturated
- 38–42 % w/w
Purity criteria
- Loss of drying
- Not more than 2 %
- Toluene-insoluble matter
- Not more than 1 % w/w
- Acid value
- Not more than 30 mg KOH/g
- Peroxide value
- less than 10 meq O2/kg fat
- Solvent residues
- Ethanol: not more than 300 mg/kg
- Arsenic
- Not more than 0,1 mg/kg
- Lead
- Not more than 0,05 mg/kg
- Mercury
- Not more than 0,02 mg/kg
- Cadmium
- Not more than 0,05 mg/kg
- Microbiological criteria: Aerobic plate count
- Not more than 1 000 CFU/g
- Microbiological criteria: Yeast
- Not more than 100 CFU/g
- Microbiological criteria: Moulds
- Not more than 100 CFU/g
- Microbiological criteria: Enterobacteriaceae
- Not more than 10 CFU/g
- Microbiological criteria: Aerobic spores
- Not more than 1 CFU/g
- Microbiological criteria: Gluten
- Not more than 20 mg/kg
Every name it appears under
27 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
E number
- E322a
As it appears in regulation
- Oat lecithin
Other names
- E 322a
- Oat lecithin
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 E 322a?
- E 322a is Oat lecithin. Oat lecithin is permitted in the EU only in cocoa and chocolate products, as an emulsifier. It gives chocolate makers a lecithin that is neither soya nor sunflower.
- Where is Oat lecithin permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, the EU 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 Oat lecithin vegan?
- Yes. Oat lecithin is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- eu retrieved 2026-10-18
- euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
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.
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