What is Ozone used for in food?

It is listed as a preservative — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Ozone banned in Europe?

No. Ozone 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 Ozone permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, 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.

Yes. Ozone is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Ozone

CAS 10028-15-6

Listed as a preservative by the US.

Listed as preservatives (US)

United States: Antimicrobial agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: OZONE
United States: Antimicrobial agents — 21 CFR 184.1563, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(2)

Structure from PubChem CID 24823 (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.

Ozone is an antimicrobial used to treat water, to sanitise surfaces and to wash produce. It decomposes to ordinary oxygen, so it leaves no residue.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Ozone 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	no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) 3 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Cider. Purpose: Maturing agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item O.3(a) In: Fruit wine; Wine. Purpose: Maturing agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item O.3(b) In: Water represented as mineral water or spring water. Purpose: Chemosterilant. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8), item O.3(c)	Health Canada, List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (List 8)and 2 further provisionsretrieved 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	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 StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted, with conditions		21 CFR 173.368and 1 further provisionretrieved 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	—	3 GMP
United States	—	2 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Ozone. 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

Generated on site from oxygen by electrical discharge or ultraviolet light. It is too unstable to store or ship, so it is always made where it is used.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 10028-15-6
InChIKey: CBENFWSGALASAD-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem: CID 24823

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

10028-15-6

As it appears in regulation

Ozone

Other names

66H7ZZK23N
CCRIS 4503
Ground Level Ozone
HSDB 717
Level Ozone, Ground
Level Ozone, Low
Low Level Ozone
Oxygen, mol (O3)
Ozon
OZONE
Ozone heavy work
Ozone, Ground Level
Ozone, Low Level
Ozone, Tropospheric
ozono
Triatomic oxygen
trioxygen
trioxygene
Trisauerstoff

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 Ozone?: Ozone is an antimicrobial used to treat water, to sanitise surfaces and to wash produce. It decomposes to ordinary oxygen, so it leaves no residue.
What is Ozone used for in food?: It is listed as a preservative — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Ozone banned in Europe?: No. Ozone 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 Ozone permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, 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 Ozone vegan?: Yes. Ozone is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

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 Ozone:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.