Quinine sulfate
Quinine sulfateCAS 6119-70-6
Listed as a flavouring agent by the US.
Listed as flavouring agents and adjuvants (US)
- United States: Flavoring agent or adjuvant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: QUININE SULFATE
The sulfate salt of quinine, used as a bitter flavouring agent in the same way as the hydrochloride. It comes as fine white needle-like crystals that darken in light.
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 | 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 | Permitted, with conditions | 21 CFR 172.575 provides that quinine, as the hydrochloride salt or sulfate salt, may be safely used in food: in carbonated beverages as a flavor, not to exceed 83 parts per million as quinine, with a label declaration of the quinine. The section is held on this site as the page quinine; read it for the conditions. | 21 CFR 172.575retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| 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.
| United States | — | 1 no quantity stated |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Quinine sulfate. 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
Obtained from cinchona bark and converted to the sulfate.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
- CAS registry number
- 6119-70-6
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.
Quinine Sulfate
The sulfate of a natural substance, quinine, obtained from the bark of various species of cinchona including Cinchona succirubra , Pavon. (red cinchona); Cinchona officinalis , Linn; Cinchona calizaya , Wenddell; Cinchona ledgeriana , Moens.
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 41st JECFA (1993), published in FNP 52 Add 2 (1993) superseding specifications prepared at the 39th JECFA (1992), published in FNP 54 Add 1 (1992). Not of toxicological concern at current uses levels up to 100 mg/l in soft drinks, 41st JECFA (1993)
- Chemical names
- (8S,9R)-6-methoxy-4-quinolenyl-5-vinyl-2-quinuclidinylmethanol sulfate dihydrate, quinine sulfate. (8S,9R)-6'-methoxycinchonan-9-ol-sulfate dihydrate
- C.A.S. number
- 6119-70-6
- Chemical formula
- (C 20 H 24 N 2 O 2 ) 2 · H 2 SO 4 · 2H 2 O
- Formula weight
- 782.96
- Assay
- Not less than 99.0% and not more than 101.0% on the dried basis
- DESCRIPTION
- Fine, white, needle-like crystals, usually lustreless, making a light and readily compressible mass; odourless; darkens on exposure to light
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Flavouring agent
- METHOD OF ASSAY
- Dissolve about 200 mg of the sample, accurately weighed, in 20 ml of acetic anhydride, add 2 drops of 1% malachite green TS and titrate with 0.1N perchloric acid from a microburet to a yellow endpoint. Perform a blank determination. Each ml of 0.1 N perchloric acid is equivalent to 24.90 mg of (C 20 H 24 N 2 O 2 ) 2 · H 2 SO 4 .
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Slightly soluble in water at 25 o , sparingly soluble at 100 o ; slightly soluble in ethanol at 25 o , soluble at 80 o ; slightly soluble in chloroform; practically insoluble in ether
- Specific rotation (Vol. 4)
- [alpha] 25, D: Between -240 o and -248 o (2% w/v solution in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid)
- Fluorescence
- Acidify a saturated solution of the sample with 10% sulfuric acid solution. The resulting solution has intense blue fluorescence which disappears upon the addition of hydrochloric acid.
- Colour test
- To 5 ml of a 1 in 1000 solution of the sample add 1 or 2 drops of bromine TS followed by 1 ml of ammonia TS. The liquid acquires an emerald green colour.
- Test for sulfate (Vol. 4)
- Passes test
Purity criteria
- Loss on drying (Vol. 4)
- Not less than 3% and not more than 5% (105 o , 3h)
- pH (Vol. 4)
- Between 5.7 and 6.6 (1 in 100 suspension in water)
- Sulfated ash (Vol. 4)
- Not more than 0.05% Test 2 g of the sample (Method I)
- Chloroform-ethanol insoluble substances
- Not more than 0.1% Warm 2 g of the sample with 15 ml of a mixture of 2 volumes of chloroform and 1 volume of absolute ethanol at 50 o for 10 min. Filter through a tared, sintered-glass filter, and wash the filter with 10 ml portions of the chloroform-ethanol mixture. Dry at 105 o for 1 h, cool and weigh.
- Dihydroquinine sulfate
- Not more than 10% See description under TESTS
- Other cinchona alkaloids
- Agitate 1.8 g of the sample previously dried at 50 o for 2 h, with 20 ml of water at 65 o for 30 min. Cool the mixture to 15 o , macerate it at this temperature for 2 h with occasional shaking, and then filter it through a filter paper (8 to 10 cm). Transfer 5 ml of the filtrate, at a temperature of 15 o to a test tube and mix it gently, without shaking, with 6 ml of 10% ammonia solution (which must contain between 10 and 10.2% of NH 3 , have a temperature of 15 o , and be added at once). A clear liquid is produced.
- 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.”
- Test: Dihydroquinine sulfate
- Place about 0.1 g of the sample accurately weighed, in a flask fitted with a ground glass stopper. Add 1 ml of 1 N hydrochloric acid. When the sample has dissolved add 10 ml of methanol and 10 ml of 0.1 N bromine. Close the flask and keep protected from light for 10 min, shaking gently from time to time. Rapidly add 20 ml of methanol, 3 ml of N potassium iodide solution and titrate with 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate using 1 ml of starch TS added towards the end of the titration as indicator. Carry out a blank determination. Calculate the content of dihydroquinine sulfate, in % by the formula: where n = number of ml of 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate used in the test n 1 = number of ml of 0.1 N sodium thiosulfate used in the blank p = weight of sample in g
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Quinine sulfate
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 Quinine sulfate?
- The sulfate salt of quinine, used as a bitter flavouring agent in the same way as the hydrochloride. It comes as fine white needle-like crystals that darken in light.
- What is Quinine sulfate used for in food?
- It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Is Quinine sulfate banned in Europe?
- No. Quinine sulfate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
- Where is Quinine sulfate permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Quinine sulfate vegan?
- Yes. Quinine sulfate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- us-listings retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
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