What is Oxystearin used for in food?

It is listed as a glazing agent, a sequestrant and a surface-active agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Oxystearin banned in Europe?

No. Oxystearin 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 Oxystearin permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada, South Korea 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.

It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Oxystearin 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.

Oxystearin

CAS 8028-45-3

Listed as a glazing agent, a sequestrant and a surface-active agent by the US.

Listed as glazing and surface-finishing agents (US) · sequestrants (US) · surface-active agents (US) · processing aids (US)

United States: Surface-finishing agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: OXYSTEARIN
United States: Sequestrant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: OXYSTEARIN
United States: Surface-active agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: OXYSTEARIN
United States: Processing aid — FDA, Substances Added to Food: OXYSTEARIN

Oxystearin is a crystallisation inhibitor for vegetable oils, added so that a bottle of salad oil does not go cloudy in the fridge.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Oxystearin 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, with conditions	highest permitted level 1,250 mg/kg In: Cotton seed oil; Peanut oil; Soybean oil. Purpose: To inhibit crystal formation. Limit: 1,250 ppm.	Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item O.2retrieved 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	Permitted, with conditions	Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. … Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 1. 일반식품첨가물 (general food additives), 옥시스테아린 (“Oxystearin”, the English the Code prints beside it). Main use (주용도) of 옥시스테아린: 안정제, 거품제거제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 옥시스테아린: (1) [may be used only in the foods listed; sets a limit on the amount used] “옥시스테아린은 아래의 식품에 한하여 사용하여야 한다. 옥시스테아린의 사용량은 1. 식용유지류(모조치즈, 식물성크림 제외) : 0.125% 이하” The Korean is the standard as published. There is no official English translation of the current Code (the English version on MFDS’s website is the 2020 edition and has no legal effect); the English in square brackets is this site’s description of what each sentence does, not a translation of the foods or the levels. Compositional specifications (Part IV) are not imported, nor are the general standards in Part II, which apply to every additive.	Standards and Specifications for Food Additives (식품첨가물의 기준 및 규격), MFDS Notification, Part III (Standards for use, by item)retrieved 2026-10-18
United StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted, with conditions		21 CFR 172.818retrieved 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	1,250 mg/kg	1 numeric limit
South Korea	—	1 no quantity stated
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

What it is made from

Made by oxidising and partly hydrogenating stearin, a fat fraction that 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.

CAS registry number: 8028-45-3

Every name it appears under

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

As it appears in regulation

Oxystearin

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
Type	Value	Population	Assessed by	Opinion
ADI	withdrawn	—	JECFA	1973

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 Oxystearin?: Oxystearin is a crystallisation inhibitor for vegetable oils, added so that a bottle of salad oil does not go cloudy in the fridge.
What is Oxystearin used for in food?: It is listed as a glazing agent, a sequestrant and a surface-active agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Oxystearin banned in Europe?: No. Oxystearin 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 Oxystearin permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada, South Korea 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 Oxystearin vegan?: It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Oxystearin 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
kr retrieved 2026-10-18
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.

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