Propylene glycol esters of fatty acids

E number E477INS 477

Used as an emulsifier.

These emulsifiers are built on propylene glycol rather than glycerol and are used chiefly in cake mixes and whipped toppings, where they help incorporate air.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Propylene glycol esters of fatty acids 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

28 food categories

highest permitted level 40,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.3.2 Beverage whiteners — 1,000 mg/kg
  • 01.4.4 Cream analogues — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 01.5.2 Milk and cream powder analogues
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 02.1.2 Vegetable oils and fats — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.1.3 Lard, tallow, fish oil, and other animal fats — 10,000 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 30,000 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.6 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed pulps and preparations (e.g. vegetable desserts and sauces, candied vegetables) other than food category 04.2.2.5 — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.1.1 Cocoa mixes (powders) and cocoa mass/cake — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 07.0 Bakery wares — 15,000 mg/kg
  • 10.4 Egg-based desserts (e.g. custard) — 40,000 mg/kg
  • 11.4 Other sugars and syrups (e.g. xylose, maple syrup, sugar toppings) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 12.6.2 Non-emulsified sauces (e.g. ketchup, cheese sauce, cream sauce, brown gravy) — 20,000 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 13.4 Dietetic formulae for slimming purposes and weight reduction — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 500 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 477and 27 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by esterifying propylene glycol with fatty acids. The propylene glycol is petroleum-derived; the fatty acids may be plant or animal.

  • 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.

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E477

INS number

  • 477

Other names

  • E 477
  • Propane-1,2-diol esters of fatty acids
  • PROPYLENE GLYCOL ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI80 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA FAF2018

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/propylene-glycol-esters-of-fatty-acids.json