Phytic acid
Phytic acidINS 391CAS 83-86-3
Phytic acid is the form in which cereal grains, seeds and legumes store phosphorus, and it binds metal ions strongly. As an additive it serves as a chelating agent, antioxidant and antimicrobial. South Korea lists it as INS 391, and FDA has answered a GRAS notice for it with no questions.
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 | 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 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 | 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), 피틴산 (“Phytic Acid”, the English the Code prints beside it). Main use (주용도) of 피틴산: 산도조절제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 피틴산: (1) [must not be used in the foods listed] “피틴산은 아래의 식품에 사용하여서는 아니 된다. 1. 특수영양식품, 특수의료용도식품 2. 건강기능식품” 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 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.
| South Korea | — | 1 no quantity stated |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Phytic acid. 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.
GRAS notices to the FDA
A GRAS notice is a company’s conclusion that a substance is generally recognised as safe for the use it describes. FDA’s letter responds to that conclusion, for that notifier and that use. It is not a listing in 21 CFR, and it is not counted as a US permission above. The substance and use are as FDA’s inventory words them; this site matched the notice to this page by exact name.
GRN No. 381 · Phytic acid · Tsuno Food Industrial Co., Ltd.
Intended use: As an antioxidant, chelating agent, and antimicrobial agent in beverages and beverage bases, milk products, processed vegetables, and vegetable juices at a level of 0.2%; Use in limiting solubility reduction and providing strength to dietary supplement capsules at a level of 8.0%
FDA’s response (2012-06-04): FDA has no questions
What it is made from
Occurs naturally in cereal bran and other seeds, and is extracted from them.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 83-86-3
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Phytic acid
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 INS 391?
- INS 391 is Phytic acid. Phytic acid is the form in which cereal grains, seeds and legumes store phosphorus, and it binds metal ions strongly. As an additive it serves as a chelating agent, antioxidant and antimicrobial. South Korea lists it as INS 391, and FDA has answered a GRAS notice for it with no questions.
- Where is Phytic acid permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, South Korea 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 Phytic acid vegan?
- Yes. Phytic acid is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- kr 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.
Follow changes to Phytic acid:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.