Potassium iodate
7758-05-6 · Caswell No. 693A · EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 075703 · HSDB 1231 · I139E44NHL · IKO3 · IODIC ACID (HIO3) POTASSIUM SALT (1:1) · Iodic acid (HIO3), potassium salt · Iodic acid, potassium salt · kalium iodate · Kaliumjodat · KIO3 · POSTASSIUM IODATE · POTASSIUM IODATE · Potassium iodate(V) (KIO3) · Potassium Iodate, ACS grade · Potassium iodine oxide · Potassium iodine oxide (KIO3) · Potassium triodate · Reagecon Potasium Iodate 0.01667M according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP) · Potassium iodateCAS 7758-05-6
Listed as a flour treatment agent by Canada and the US.
Listed as flour treatment agents (CA, US) · dough strengtheners (US) · nutrient supplements (US) · oxidising and reducing agents (US)
- Canada: Flour treatment agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)
- United States: Flour treating agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM IODATE
- United States: Dough strengthener — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM IODATE
- United States: Dough strengtheners — 21 CFR 184.1635, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(6)
- United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM IODATE
- United States: Oxidizing or reducing agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM IODATE
Potassium iodate is the more stable alternative to iodide for salt iodisation, preferred in hot and humid climates where iodide would be lost before the salt was eaten.
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 | Permitted, with conditions | 2 permitted uses Show every permitted use
| Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17 |
| 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), 요오드산칼륨 (“Potassium Iodate”, the English the Code prints beside it); the Code marks it as also usable as a nutrient fortifier; 3. 영양강화제 (nutrient fortifiers), 요오드산칼륨; nutrient: 요오드(I); the Code marks it as also usable as a general food additive. Main use (주용도) of 요오드산칼륨: 밀가루개량제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 요오드산칼륨: (1) [to be used under the general standard for use in II. 2. 1), the minimum amount that achieves the technical effect, with no limit set for this additive in particular] “II. 2. 1)의 규정에 따라 사용하여야 한다.” 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 | Permitted | 21 CFR 184.1635retrieved 2026-10-17 | |
| 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.
| Canada | — | 2 no quantity stated |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | — | 1 no quantity stated |
| United States | — | 1 no quantity stated |
No regulator sets a figure for Potassium iodate. 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 reacting iodine with potassium hydroxide under oxidising conditions.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 7758-05-6
- InChIKey
- JLKDVMWYMMLWTI-UHFFFAOYSA-M
- PubChem
- CID 23665710
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 917 Potassium Iodate
Synonyms: INS No. 917
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 33rd JECFA (1988), published in FNP 38 (1988) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 63rd JECFA (2004). Use not recommended as Flour treatment agent 9th JECFA (1965)
- Chemical names
- Potassium iodate
- C.A.S. number
- 7758-05-6
- Chemical formula
- KIO 3
- Formula weight
- 214.02
- Assay
- Not less than 99.0% and not more than 101.0% on the dried basis
- DESCRIPTION
- White, odourless crystalline powder
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Flour treatment agent, oxidizing agent
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- h, and dissolve in 50 ml of water contained in a 250 ml glass-stoppered conical flask. Add 3 g of potassium iodide, followed by 3 ml of dilute hydrochloric acid (3 in 10), and stopper the flask. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 min., add 100 ml of cold water, and titrate the liberated iodine with 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate, adding starch TS as the end-point is approached. Perform a blank determination. Each ml of 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate is equivalent to 3.567 mg of KIO 3 .
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Soluble in water; insoluble in ethanol
- Test for potassium (Vol. 4)
- Passes test
- Test for iodate
- To a 1 in 20 solution of the sample add one drop of starch TS and a few drops of 20% hypophosphorous acid. A transient blue colour appears
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 0.5% (150 o , 3 h)
- Acidity or alkalinity
- Dissolve by warming 5 g of the sample in 40 ml of freshly boiled and cooled water, cool and add 3 drops of phenol- phthalein TS; observe colour: If the solution is pink, add 0.4 ml of 0.01 N hydro chloric acid. The pink colour disappears. If the solution is colourless, add 1.2 ml of 0.01 N sodium hydroxide. The solution turns pink.
- 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.” Weigh accurately about 100 mg of the sample, previously dried at 105 o for 3
Every name it appears under
21 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
CAS registry number
- 7758-05-6
As it appears in regulation
- Potassium iodate
Other names
- Caswell No. 693A
- EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 075703
- HSDB 1231
- I139E44NHL
- IKO3
- IODIC ACID (HIO3) POTASSIUM SALT (1:1)
- Iodic acid (HIO3), potassium salt
- Iodic acid, potassium salt
- kalium iodate
- Kaliumjodat
- KIO3
- POSTASSIUM IODATE
- POTASSIUM IODATE
- Potassium iodate(V) (KIO3)
- Potassium Iodate, ACS grade
- Potassium iodine oxide
- Potassium iodine oxide (KIO3)
- Potassium triodate
- Reagecon Potasium Iodate 0.01667M according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP)
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 Potassium iodate?
- Potassium iodate is the more stable alternative to iodide for salt iodisation, preferred in hot and humid climates where iodide would be lost before the salt was eaten.
- What is Potassium iodate used for in food?
- It is listed as a flour treatment agent — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Is Potassium iodate banned in Europe?
- No. Potassium iodate 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 Potassium iodate 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 Potassium iodate vegan?
- Yes. Potassium iodate 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
- kr retrieved 2026-10-18
- ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
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