Powdered cellulose

E number E460INS 460(ii)CAS 9004-34-6

Used as an emulsifier — Codex also lists it as anticaking agent, bulking agent, glazing, agent, humectant, stabilizer, thickener.

Powdered cellulose is milled plant fibre used as an anticaking agent and a source of dietary fibre, notably in shredded cheese and baked goods.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Powdered cellulose by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationNot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

20 food categories

highest permitted level 10,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.2.1.1 Fermented milks (plain), not heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.2 Renneted milk (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.1 Pasteurized cream (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.2 Sterilized and UHT creams, whipping and whipped creams, and reduced fat creams (plain) — GMP
  • 01.5.1 Milk powder and cream powder (plain) — GMP
  • 01.8.2 Dried whey and whey products, excluding whey cheeses — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 08.1.1 Fresh meat, poultry and game, whole pieces or cuts — GMP
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — GMP
  • 09.2.1 Frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.3 Frozen minced and creamed fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.4.1 Cooked fish and fish products — GMP
  • 09.2.4.2 Cooked molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.4.3 Fried fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 09.2.5 Smoked, dried, fermented, and/or salted fish and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — GMP
  • 12.1.2 Salt substitutes — GMP
  • 12.2.1 Herbs and spices — GMP
  • 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 460(ii)and 20 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Mechanically milled from purified wood pulp. Unlike the modified celluloses it is not chemically altered — only cleaned and ground.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
9004-34-6

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E460

INS number

  • 460(ii)

CAS registry number

  • 9004-34-6

Other names

  • Cellulose
  • E 460
  • E 460(ii)
  • POWDERED CELLULOSE

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 by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/powdered-cellulose.json