What is Potassium persulfate used for in food?

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

Is Potassium persulfate banned in Europe?

No. Potassium persulfate 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 persulfate 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 Potassium persulfate vegan?

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

Potassium persulfate

CAS 7727-21-1

Listed as a flour treatment agent and a surface-active agent by Canada and the US.

Listed as flour treatment agents (CA) · surface-active agents (US)

Canada: Flour treatment agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)
United States: Surface-active agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: POTASSIUM PERSULFATE

Structure from PubChem CID 24412 (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.

A strong oxidant used in starch modification and flour treatment, the potassium counterpart of ammonium persulfate.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Potassium persulfate 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	no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) 2 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Bread. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: If used singly, the amount not to exceed 100 ppm of the flour. If used in combination with ammonium persulphate or calcium peroxide, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 100 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item P.2(a) In: Unstandardized bakery products. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: Good Manufacturing Practice. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item P.2(b)	Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)and 1 further provisionretrieved 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	Named in 21 CFR 172.210(b)(3) among the adjuvants that may be used with a vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride copolymer coating on fresh citrus fruit (the table's "Do." repeats "As an adjuvant"). The section is held on this site as the page coatings-on-fresh-citrus-fruit; read it for the conditions.	21 CFR 172.210retrieved 2026-10-18
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 GMP, 1 no quantity stated
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Potassium persulfate. 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

Made by electrolysing potassium sulfate solution.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 7727-21-1
InChIKey: USHAGKDGDHPEEY-UHFFFAOYSA-L
PubChem: CID 24412

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

7727-21-1

Other names

6B86K0MCZC
Anthion
Caswell No. 700
dipotassium [(sulfonatoperoxy)sulfonyl]oxidanide
Dipotassium peroxodisulphate
Dipotassium peroxydisulfate
DIPOTASSIUM PEROXYDISULPHATE
Dipotassium persulfate
DIPOTASSIUM PERSULPHATE
dipotassium;sulfonatooxy sulfate
EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 063602
HSDB 2638
Peroxydisulfuric acid (((HO)S(O)2)2O2), dipotassium salt
Peroxydisulfuric acid (((HO)S(O)2)2O2), potassium salt (1:2)
Peroxydisulfuric acid, dipotassium salt
potasium persulfate
potassium monopersulphate
potassium peroxidisulfate
Potassium peroxodisulfate
Potassium peroxydisulfate
Potassium peroxydisulfate (K2(S2O8))
POTASSIUM PEROXYDISULFATE (K2S2O3)
Potassium peroxydisulfate, low nitrogen, ACS
Potassium peroxydisulphate
potassium persuifate
Potassium persulfate
Potassium persulfate, ACS Reagent Grade
Potassium persulfate, Trace metals grade 99.99%
Potassium Persulphate

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 persulfate?: A strong oxidant used in starch modification and flour treatment, the potassium counterpart of ammonium persulfate.
What is Potassium persulfate used for in food?: It is listed as a flour treatment agent and a surface-active agent — the role Canada and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Potassium persulfate banned in Europe?: No. Potassium persulfate 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 persulfate 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 Potassium persulfate vegan?: Yes. Potassium persulfate 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
us-listings 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 Potassium persulfate:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.