Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate
Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate · E431 · 431 · Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate · Estearato de polioxietileno · ESTEARATO DE POLIOXIETILENO (40) · Polioksietilen (40) stearat · Polioksietileno(40)stearatas · Polioksietilēna (40) stearāts · Polioxi-etilén(40)-sztearát · POLIOXIETILÉN(40)-SZTEARÁT · Polyoksyetyleeni (40) stearaatti · Polyoxietylen(40)stearat · Polyoxyethyleen(40)stearaat · Polyoxyethylen (40) stearan · Polyoxyethylen(40)stearat · Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate · POLYOXYETYLÉN (40) STEARÁT · Polyoxyetylén (40) stearan · Polüoksüetüleen(40)stearaat · STEARAT DE POLIOXIETILENĂ (40) · Stearat de polioxietilenă · Stearat tal-poliossietilen · STEARAT TAL-POLIOSSIETILEN (40) · Stearato di poliossietilene · STEARATO DI POLIOSSIETILENE(40) · Stearynian polioksyetylenu · STEARYNIAN POLIOKSYETYLENU (40) · STÉARATE DE POLYOXYÉTHYLÈNE (40) · Stéarate de polyoxyéthylène · ΣΤΕΑΤΙΚΟ ΠΟΛΥΟΞΥΑΙΘΥΛΕΝΙΟ (40) · Στεαρικό πολυοξυαιθυλένιο · Полиоксиетилен (40) стеаратE number E431INS 431
Listed as an emulsifier by Codex.
Listed as emulsifiers (Codex)
- Codex Alimentarius: Emulsifier — CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 431
Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate is an emulsifier used in bakery products and as a dispersing agent, with a longer ethylene oxide chain than the (8) form and correspondingly more water-loving.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | Permitted | 2 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category
| Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| 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 | 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 | Permitted, with conditions | 4 food categories highest permitted level 5,000 mg/kg Show every food category and its notes
| CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 431and 3 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07 |
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 | — | 2 GMP |
|---|---|---|
| Codex Alimentarius | 200 mg/kg – 5,000 mg/kg | 4 numeric limit |
What it is made from
Made by reacting stearic acid with ethylene oxide. The stearic acid 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.
The two specifications, compared
The European Union sets identity and purity by regulation; JECFA publishes its own through FAO, advisory until a country adopts it. Both documents are below in full. These are the parameters each puts a number on.
| Parameter | European Union | JECFA |
|---|---|---|
| Assay | no less than 97.5 % | no more than 88 % |
| Lead | no more than 2 mg/kg | no more than 2 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | no more than 3 mg/kg | — |
| Mercury | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
| Cadmium | no more than 1 mg/kg | — |
The two documents state the same figures for every parameter compared here.
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.
A specification does not authorise use. This site holds no EU permission for Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate in food; see the EU row in the status panel above.
E 431 Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate
A mixture of the mono- and diesters of edible commercial stearic acid and mixed polyoxyethylene diols (having an average polymer length of about 40 oxyethylene units) together with free polyol
Synonyms: Polyoxyl (40) stearate; Polyoxyethylene (40) monostearate
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Assay
- Content not less than 97,5 % on the anhydrous basis
- Description
- Cream-coloured flakes or waxy solid at 25 °C with a faint odour
Identification
- Solubility
- Soluble in water, ethanol, methanol and ethyl acetate. Insoluble in mineral oil
- Congealing range
- 39-44 °C
- Infrared absorption spectrum
- Characteristic of a partial fatty acid ester of a polyoxyethylated polyol
Purity criteria
- Water content
- Not more than 3 % (Karl Fischer method)
- Acid value
- Not more than 1
- Saponification value
- Not less than 25 and not more than 35
- Hydroxyl value
- Not less than 27 and not more than 40
- 1,4-Dioxane
- Not more than 5 mg/kg
- Ethylene glycols (mono- and di-)
- Not more than 0,25 %
- Arsenic
- Not more than 3 mg/kg
- Lead
- Not more than 2 mg/kg
- Mercury
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
- Cadmium
- Not more than 1 mg/kg
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
INS 431 Polyoxyethylene (40) Stearate
Consists of a mixture of the mono- and diesters of edible commercial stearic acid and mixed polyoxyethylene diols (having an average polymer length of about 40 oxyethylene units) together with free polyol.
Synonyms: Polyoxyl (40) stearate, polyoxyethylene (40) monostearate; INS No. 431 Polyoxyethylene (40) monostearate; Polyoxyl (40) stearate
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 17th JECFA (1973), published in FNP 4 (1978) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 55th JECFA (2000). An ADI of 0-25 mg/kg bw was established at the 17th JECFA (1973)
- Structural formula
- Nominal formula and approximate composition: free polyol monoester diester where RCO- is a fatty acid moiety, and "n" has an average value of approximately 40. The distribution of polymers is approximately in accordance with the Poisson expression.
- Assay
- Not less than 84.0 and not more than 88.0% of oxyethylene groups equivalent to not less than 97.5 and not more than 102.5% of polyoxyethylene (40) stearate calculated on the anhydrous basis. Cream-coloured and exists as flakes or as a waxy solid at 25 o with a faint
- DESCRIPTION
- odour
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Emulsifier
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Determine the content of Oxyethylene groups .
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Soluble in water, ethanol, methanol and ethylacetate; insoluble in mineral oil
- Congealing range (Vol. 4)
- 39 - 44 o
- Infrared absorption
- The infrared spectrum of the sample is characteristic of a partial fatty acid ester of a polyoxyethylated polyol
- Colour reaction
- To 5 ml of a 5% (w/v) aqueous solution of the sample add 10 ml of ammonium cobaltothiocyanate solution and 5 ml of chloroform, shake well and allow to separate; a blue colour is produced in the chloroform layer. (Ammonium cobaltothiocyanate solution: 37.5 g of cobalt nitrate and 150 g of ammonium thiocyanate made up to 100 ml with water - freshly prepared).
- Saponification (Vol. 4)
- 100 g of the sample yields approximately 13-14 g of fatty acids and 85-87 g of polyols
Purity criteria
- Water (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 3% (Karl Fischer Method)
- Acid value (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 1
- Saponification value (Vol. 4)
- Not less than 25 and not more than 35
- Hydroxyl value (Vol. 4)
- Not less than 27 and not more than 40
- Lead (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 2 mg/kg Determine using an atomic absorption technique appropriate to the specified level. The selection of sample size and method of sample preparation may be based on the principles of the method described in Volume 4, “Instrumental Methods.”
Every name it appears under
33 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
E number
- E431
INS number
- 431
As it appears in regulation
- Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate
Other names
- Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate
The EU re-evaluation programme
Every additive authorised in the EU before 20 January 2009 was put back through EFSA by Commission Regulation (EU) No 257/2010, and this one is named in it. What the Regulation required is below; whether the opinion has since been published is not something this site records.
- To be evaluated by 31 December 2016. Named in Annex II, Part II, point 2 as “Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate”, among the additives given priority within its class.
Hazard reference values
| Type | Value | Population | Assessed by | Opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADI | 25 mg/kg bw/day | — | 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 E 431?
- E 431 is Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate. Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate is an emulsifier used in bakery products and as a dispersing agent, with a longer ethylene oxide chain than the (8) form and correspondingly more water-loving.
- What is Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate used for in food?
- It is listed as an emulsifier — the role Codex assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Where is Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand and the Codex standard 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 Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate vegan?
- It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Polyoxyethylene (40) stearate 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
- anz retrieved 2026-10-17
- gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07
- euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
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