Octafluorocyclobutane

CAS 115-25-3

Listed as a propellant by Canada and the US.

Listed as propellants and aerating agents (CA, US)
Chemical structure of Octafluorocyclobutane, from PubChem compound 8263
Structure from PubChem CID 8263 (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.

Octafluorocyclobutane is a propellant for foamed and sprayed food products.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Octafluorocyclobutane by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New ZealandPermitted, with conditions

54 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 0 Preparations of food additives — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.1.1 Liquid milk (including buttermilk) — GMPFor pressurised food containers only. Only UHT goats milk.
  • 1.1.2 Liquid milk products and flavoured liquid milk — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.2.2 Fermented milk products and rennetted milk products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.3 Condensed milk and evaporated milk — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.4.1 Cream, reduced cream and light cream — GMPFor pressurised food containers only. Only UHT creams and creams receiving equivalent or greater heat treatments.
  • 1.4.2 Cream products (flavoured, whipped, thickened, sour cream etc) — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.5 Dried milk, milk powder, cream powder — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 1.6 Cheese and cheese products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 10.2 Liquid egg products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 10.3 Frozen egg products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 10.4 Dried or heat coagulated egg products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 11.1.1 Rainbow sugar — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 11.3.1 Dried honey — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 11.4 Tabletop sweeteners — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 12.1.2 Reduced sodium salt mixture — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 12.1.3 Salt substitute — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 12.5 Yeast and yeast products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 12.6 Vegetable protein products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 13.3 Formulated meal replacements and formulated supplementary foods — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 13.4 Formulated supplementary sports foods — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 13.5 Food for special medical purposes — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.1.1.2 Carbonated, mineralised and soda waters — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.1.2.1 Fruit and vegetable juices — GMPFor pressurised food containers only. For juice separated by other than mechanical means only.
  • 14.1.2.2 Fruit and vegetable juice products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.1.3 Water based flavoured drinks — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.1.4 Formulated Beverages — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions and similar products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.2.3 Wine based drinks and reduced alcohol wines — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.2.4.1 Fruit wine products and vegetable wine products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.2.5 Spirits and liqueurs — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 14.3 Alcoholic beverages not included in item 14.2 — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 2.1 Edible oils essentially free of water — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 2.2.1.2 Butter products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 2.2.1.3 Margarine and similar products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 2.2.2 Oil emulsions (<80% oil) — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 20 Foods not included in items 0 to 14 — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 3 Ice cream and edible ices — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 4.1.3 Fruits and vegetables that are peeled, cut, or both peeled and cut — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 4.3 Processed fruits and vegetables — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 5.2 Sugar confectionery — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 5.4 Icings and frostings — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 6.3 Processed cereal and meal products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 6.4 Flour products (including noodles and pasta) — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 7 Breads and bakery products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 8.2 Processed meat, poultry and game products in whole cuts or pieces — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 8.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry and game products, other than products listed in item 8.3.2 — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 8.3.2 Sausage and sausage meat containing raw, unprocessed meat — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 8.4 Edible casings — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 8.5 Animal protein products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 9.2 Processed fish and fish products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 9.3 Semi preserved fish and fish products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
  • 9.4 Fully preserved fish including canned fish products — GMPFor pressurised food containers only.
Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 53 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
CanadaHealth CanadaPermitted

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

In: Unstandardized foods. Purpose: Aerating agent and pressure dispensing agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice.

Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item O.1retrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSANo 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 ScotlandNo 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 AgencyNo 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 SafetyNo 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 AdministrationPermitted, with conditions21 CFR 173.360retrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot 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.

Australia and New Zealand—54 GMP
Canada—1 GMP
United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Octafluorocyclobutane. 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 fluorinating hydrocarbons.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
115-25-3
InChIKey
BCCOBQSFUDVTJQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 8263

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E946

CAS registry number

  • 115-25-3
  • 25510-99-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Octafluorocyclobutane

Other names

  • 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-Octafluoro-Cyclobutane
  • 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-Octafluorocyclobutane
  • 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-Octafluorocyclobutane #
  • Cyclobutane, 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-octafluoro-
  • Cyclobutane, octafluoro-
  • Cyclooctafluorobutane
  • FKWC 318
  • FLON C 318
  • Fluorocarbon C-318
  • Freon 318
  • Freon C 318
  • Freon C-318
  • freon c318
  • FRON C 318
  • Halocarbon C-138
  • octafluoro-cyclobutane
  • Octafluorocyclobutane
  • Octafluorocyclobutane, or Refrigerant gas R C318
  • PERFLUOROCYCLOBUTANE
  • Perfluorocyclobutane (PFC C-318)
  • Perfluorocyclobutane; 99%"
  • Propellant C 318
  • Propellant C318

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 Octafluorocyclobutane?
Octafluorocyclobutane is a propellant for foamed and sprayed food products.
What is Octafluorocyclobutane used for in food?
It is listed as a propellant — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Octafluorocyclobutane banned in Europe?
No. Octafluorocyclobutane 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 Octafluorocyclobutane permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, 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 Octafluorocyclobutane vegan?
Yes. Octafluorocyclobutane is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

  • anz retrieved 2026-10-17
  • 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 Octafluorocyclobutane:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.