What is Shellac, bleached used for in food?

It is listed as a glazing agent — the role Canada, Codex and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Where is Shellac, bleached permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the EU, Great Britain, South Korea and the Codex standard 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 Shellac, bleached vegan?

No. Shellac, bleached is animal-derived, and is not vegetarian either. This page says what it is made from.

Shellac, bleached

Q: What is E 904?

E 904 is Shellac, bleached. Shellac is the glaze on many sweets, chocolate coatings and coated fruit, and the coating on many tablets. It is a resin secreted by the lac insect and is not vegan; whether it is vegetarian is contested, because insects are killed during harvesting.

E number E904INS 904CAS 9000-59-3

Listed as a glazing agent by Canada, Codex and the US.

Listed as glazing and surface-finishing agents (CA, US, Codex) · humectants (US) · anticaking agents (US) · processing aids (US)

Canada: Glazing agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Glazing Agents (List 7)
United States: Surface-finishing agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SHELLAC, PURIFIED
Codex Alimentarius: Glazing agent — CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 904
United States: Humectant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SHELLAC, PURIFIED
United States: Anticaking agent or free-flow agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SHELLAC, PURIFIED
United States: Processing aid — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SHELLAC, PURIFIED

Shellac is the glaze on many sweets, chocolate coatings and coated fruit, and the coating on many tablets. It is a resin secreted by the lac insect and is not vegan; whether it is vegetarian is contested, because insects are killed during harvesting.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Shellac, bleached 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	Permitted, with conditions	55 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category 0 Preparations of food additives — GMP 1.1.1 Liquid milk (including buttermilk) — GMPOnly UHT goats milk. 1.1.2 Liquid milk products and flavoured liquid milk — GMP 1.2.2 Fermented milk products and rennetted milk products — GMP 1.3 Condensed milk and evaporated milk — GMP 1.4.1 Cream, reduced cream and light cream — GMPOnly UHT creams and creams receiving equivalent or greater heat treatments. 1.4.2 Cream products (flavoured, whipped, thickened, sour cream etc) — GMP 1.5 Dried milk, milk powder, cream powder — GMP 1.6 Cheese and cheese products — GMP 10.2 Liquid egg products — GMP 10.3 Frozen egg products — GMP 10.4 Dried or heat coagulated egg products — GMP 11.1.1 Rainbow sugar — GMP 11.3.1 Dried honey — GMP 11.4 Tabletop sweeteners — GMP 12.1.2 Reduced sodium salt mixture — GMP 12.1.3 Salt substitute — GMP 12.5 Yeast and yeast products — GMP 12.6 Vegetable protein products — GMP 13.3 Formulated meal replacements and formulated supplementary foods — GMP 13.4 Formulated supplementary sports foods — GMP 13.5 Food for special medical purposes — GMP 14.1.1.2 Carbonated, mineralised and soda waters — GMP 14.1.2.1 Fruit and vegetable juices — GMPFor juice separated by other than mechanical means only. 14.1.2.2 Fruit and vegetable juice products — GMP 14.1.3 Water based flavoured drinks — GMP 14.1.4 Formulated Beverages — GMP 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions and similar products — GMP 14.2.3 Wine based drinks and reduced alcohol wines — GMP 14.2.4.1 Fruit wine products and vegetable wine products — GMP 14.2.5 Spirits and liqueurs — GMP 14.3 Alcoholic beverages not included in item 14.2 — GMP 2.1 Edible oils essentially free of water — GMP 2.2.1.2 Butter products — GMP 2.2.1.3 Margarine and similar products — GMP 2.2.2 Oil emulsions (<80% oil) — GMP 20 Foods not included in items 0 to 14 — GMP 3 Ice cream and edible ices — GMP 4.1.2 Surface treated fruits and vegetables — GMP 4.1.3 Fruits and vegetables that are peeled, cut, or both peeled and cut — GMP 4.3 Processed fruits and vegetables — GMP 5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products — GMP 5.2 Sugar confectionery — GMP 5.4 Icings and frostings — GMP 6.3 Processed cereal and meal products — GMP 6.4 Flour products (including noodles and pasta) — GMP 7 Breads and bakery products — GMP 8.2 Processed meat, poultry and game products in whole cuts or pieces — GMP 8.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry and game products, other than products listed in item 8.3.2 — GMP 8.3.2 Sausage and sausage meat containing raw, unprocessed meat — GMP 8.4 Edible casings — GMP 8.5 Animal protein products — GMP 9.2 Processed fish and fish products — GMP 9.3 Semi preserved fish and fish products — GMP 9.4 Fully preserved fish including canned fish products — GMP	Food Standards Code, Schedule 15, S15—5and 54 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-17
CanadaHealth Canada	Permitted, with conditions	highest permitted level 4,000 mg/kg 2 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Cake decorations. Purpose: Glazing agent. Limit: 4,000 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Glazing Agents (List 7), item S.1(a) In: Unstandardized confectionery. Purpose: Glazing agent. Limit: 4,000 ppm. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Glazing Agents (List 7), item S.1(b)	Health Canada, List of Permitted Glazing Agents (List 7)and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSA	Permitted, with conditions	12 food categories highest permitted level 46,000 mg/kg Show every food category 10.2 processed eggs and egg products — quantum satisquantum satis. only on the surface of unpeeled boiled eggs Period of application: From 13 August 2012. 13.2 Foods for special medical purposes as defined by Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 (excluding products from food category 13.1.5.) — 46,000 mg/kgML = 46000 mg/kg. only in tablet and coated tablet forms’. 14.1.5.1 coffee coffee extracts — quantum satisquantum satis. only coffee beans, as glazing agent. 15.1 Potato- cereal- flour- or starch-based snacks — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 15.2 Processed nuts — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 17.1 food supplements supplied in a solid form excluding food supplements for infants and young children’, — quantum satisquantum satis. 4.1.1 entire fresh fruit and vegetables — quantum satisquantum satis. only for the surface treatment of fruit: citrus fruit, melons, apples, pears, peaches, pineapples, pomegranates, mangoes, avocados and papayas and as glazing agent on nuts Period of application as regards pomegranates, mangoes, avocados and papayas: From 25 December 2012. 5.1 Cocoa and chocolate products as covered by Directive 2000/36/EC — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.2 Other confectionery including breath freshening micro-sweets — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.3 chewing gum — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4 — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 7.2 Fine bakery wares — quantum satisquantum satis. only as glazing agents only for small products of fine bakery wares coated with chocolate.	Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008and 11 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18
Great BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards Scotland	Permitted, with conditions	11 food categories Show every food category 10.2 Processed eggs and egg products — quantum satisquantum satis. only on the surface of unpeeled boiled eggs Period of application: From 13 August 2012. 14.1.5.1 Coffee, coffee extracts — quantum satisquantum satis. only coffee beans, as glazing agent. 15.1 Potato-, cereal-, flour- or starch-based snacks — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agents only. 15.2 Processed nuts — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agents only. 17.1 Food supplements supplied in a solid form, excluding food supplements for infants and young children — quantum satisquantum satis. 4.1.1 Entire fresh fruit and vegetables — quantum satisquantum satis. only for the surface treatment of fruit: citrus fruit, melons, apples, pears, peaches, pineapples, pomegranates, mangoes, avocados and papayas and as glazing agent on nuts Period of application as regards pomegranates, mangoes, avocados and papayas: From 25 December 2012 . 5.1 Cocoa and chocolate products as covered by Directive 2000/36/EC — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.2 Other confectionery including breath refreshening microsweets — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.3 Chewing gum — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4 — quantum satisquantum satis. as glazing agent only. 7.2 Fine bakery wares — quantum satisquantum satis. only as glazing agents only for small products of fine bakery wares coated with chocolate.	Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008and 10 further provisionsretrieved 2026-10-18
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	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), 쉘락 (“Shellac”, the English the Code prints beside it). Main use (주용도) of 쉘락: 피막제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 쉘락: (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 StatesFood and Drug Administration	Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	Permitted, with conditions	11 food categories no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice) Show every food category and its notes 04.1.1.2 Surface-treated fresh fruit — GMP 04.2.1.2 Surface-treated fresh vegetables, (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds and nuts and seeds — GMP Note 79 For use on nuts only. 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. Note XS309R Excluding products conforming to the Codex Regional Standard for Halawa Tehenia (CODEX STAN 309R-211). 05.3 Chewing gum — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — GMP 07.2 Fine bakery wares (sweet, salty, savoury) and mixes — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. 13.6 Food supplements — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only. 14.1.5 Coffee, coffee substitutes, tea, herbal infusions, and other hot cereal and grain beverages, excluding cocoa — GMP Note 108 For use on coffee beans only. 15.0 Ready-to-eat savouries — GMP Note 3 For use in surface treatment only.	CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 904and 10 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

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.

Australia and New Zealand	—	55 GMP
Canada	4,000 mg/kg	2 numeric limit
European Union	46,000 mg/kg	1 numeric limit, 11 quantum satis
Great Britain	—	11 quantum satis
South Korea	—	1 no quantity stated
Codex Alimentarius	—	11 GMP

What it is made from

Scraped from tree branches as the secretion of the lac insect, Kerria lacca, in India and Thailand, then washed, filtered and bleached. Insect fragments are removed during refining but the raw material is an insect product.

Not vegan
Not vegetarian
May raise a halal question
May raise a kosher question

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 9000-59-3

The two specifications, compared

The European Union sets identity and purity by regulation; JECFA publishes its own through FAO, advisory until a country adopts it. Both documents are below in full. These are the parameters each puts a number on.

Parameter	European Union	JECFA
Loss on drying	no more than 6 %	no more than 6 %
Lead	no more than 2 mg/kg	no more than 2 mg/kg

The two documents state the same figures for every parameter compared here.

How the EU defines it

The legal specification an additive must meet to be sold as this E number in the EU — what it is, how it may be made, and the purity it must reach. From Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.

E 904 Shellac

Shellac is the purified and bleached lac, the resinous secretion of the insect Laccifer (Tachardia) lacca Kerr (Fam. Coccidae). The wax is removed by filtration.

Synonyms: Bleached shellac; White shellac

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Einecs: 232-549-9
Description: Wax-free bleached shellac – off-white to light yellow, amorphous, granular resin

Identification

Solubility: Insoluble in water; freely (though very slowly) soluble in alcohol; slightly soluble in acetone
Acid value: Between 60 and 89

Purity criteria

Loss on drying: Not more than 6,0 % (40 °C, over silica gel, 15 hours)
Rosin: Absent
Wax: not more than 0,2 %
Lead: Not more than 2 mg/kg

Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012, Annex, E 904

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 904 Shellac, bleached

Shellac is a polyester resin obtained from lac, the resinous secretion of the insect Laccifer ( Tachardia ) lacca Kerr (Fam. Coccidae ). Bleached shellac is obtained by dissolving the lac in aqueous sodium carbonate, followed by bleaching with sodium hypochlorite, precipitation of the bleached lac with dilute sulfuric acid solution, and drying; wax-free bleached shellac is prepared by further treatment whereby the wax is removed by filtration.

Synonyms: INS No. 904

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history: Prepared at the 55th JECFA (2000) and published in FNP 52 Add 8 (2000), superseding specifications prepared at the 51st JECFA (1998) and published in FNP 52 Add 6 (1998). An ADI "Acceptable, present uses (as a coating, glazing, and surface-finishing agent externally applied to food) not of toxicological concern" was established at the 39th JECFA (1992).
C.A.S. number: 9000-59-3
DESCRIPTION: Bleached shellac: off-white to tan, amorphous granular resin; wax-free bleached shellac: light yellow, amorphous, granular resin
FUNCTIONAL USES: Coating agent, glazing agent, surface finishing agent

Identification

Colour reaction: To 50 mg of the sample add a few drops of a solution of 1 g ammonium molybdate in 3 ml of sulfuric acid. A green colour is produced, changing to lilac when the solution is neutralized with 6 N ammonium hydroxide.
Solubility (Vol. 4): Insoluble in water; freely (though very slowly) soluble in ethanol; slightly soluble in acetone and ether
Acid value: Between 60 and 89 See description under TESTS
Test: Acid value: Dissolve about 1 g of finely ground sample, accurately weighed, in 50 ml of alcohol previously neutralized to phenolphthalein with sodium hydroxide, and titrate with 0.1 N potassium hydroxide. Determine the end point using phenolphthalein TS or a potentiometer. If phenolphthalein is used, titrate until the pink colour persists for at least 30 sec. Calculate the acid value by the formula 56.1V x N/W, in which V is the exact volume, in ml, N is the exact normality of the sodium hydroxide solution, and W is the weight, in g, of sample taken, calculated on the dry basis.

Purity criteria

Loss on drying (Vol. 4): Not more than 6% (40 o , 4 h, then room temperature over silica gel, 15 h)
Rosin: Dissolve 2 g of the sample in 10 ml of dehydrated ethanol, and add slowly, with shaking, 50 ml of solvent hexane. Transfer to a separator, wash with two 50-ml portions of water, and discard the washings. Filter the solvent layer, evaporate it to dryness, and to the residue add 2 ml of a mixture of 1 volume of liquefied phenol and 2 volumes of methylene chloride. Stir and transfer a portion of the mixture to a cavity of a colour-reaction plate. Fill an adjacent cavity with a mixture of 1 volume of bromine and four volumes of methylene chloride, and cover both cavities with an inverted watch glass. No purple or deep indigo blue colour is produced in or above the liquid containing the sample residue.
Wax: Bleached shellac: not more than 5.5%; wax-free bleached shellac, not more than 0.2% See description under TESTS
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: Wax: Transfer about 10 g of finely ground sample, accurately weighed, and 2.5 g of sodium carbonate to a 200-ml tall-form beaker. Add 150 ml of hot water, immerse the beaker in a boiling water bath, and stir until the sample is dissolved. Cover the beaker with a watch glass, heat for 3 h without agitation, and cool in a cold water bath. When the wax has floated to the surface, filter the mixture through medium-speed quantitative ashless filter paper, transferring the wax to the paper, and wash the filter with water. Pour 5 to 10 ml of ethanol onto the filter to accelerate drying. Wrap the paper loosely in a large piece of filter paper, bind with a piece of fine wire, and dry with the aid of gentle heat. Extract with chloroform in a suitable continuous extraction apparatus for 2 h, using a previously dried and accurately weighed flask to receive the extracted wax and solvent. Evaporate the solvent, dry the wax at 105 o to constant weight, and calculate the percentage of wax.

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

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

E number

E904

INS number

CAS registry number

9000-59-3

As it appears in regulation

Shellac

Other names

Bleached shellac
E 904
Shellac
SHELLAC, BLEACHED
White shellac

Systematic names

7-acetyl-6-ethyl-3,5,8-trihydroxy-9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid

The EU re-evaluation programme

Every additive authorised in the EU before 20 January 2009 was put back through EFSA by Commission Regulation (EU) No 257/2010, and this one is named in it. What the Regulation required is below; whether the opinion has since been published is not something this site records.

To be evaluated by 31 December 2018. Named in Annex II, Part II, point 4 as “Shellac”, among the additives given priority within its class.

Hazard reference values

EFSA and JECFA have both assessed Shellac, bleached and their conclusions are not two comparable figures — EFSA records 4 mg/kg bw/day, JECFA not specified. An acceptable daily intake is a reference value set by a committee, not a threshold above which harm begins. “Not specified”, “not limited” and “not allocated” are conclusions, not missing data, and they are shown in the words each body used rather than reduced to a number. See where the two committees differ.

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
Type	Value	Population	Assessed by	Opinion
ADI	not specified	—	JECFA	1992
ADI	4 mg/kg bw/day	consumers	EFSA	not identified in the dataset

Evidence and how bodies read it

What assessing bodies concluded

Each conclusion is paraphrased in the body's own framing, from the published opinion linked beneath it. Where bodies differ, both stand; this site does not adjudicate between them or add a view of its own.

EFSA 2024
The FAF Panel derived an ADI of 4 mg/kg bw/day for wax-free shellac (E 904) produced by physical decolouring, temporary for chemically bleached shellac pending data on organochlorine impurities, and not applicable to wax-containing shellac. It considered the small exceedance of the ADI in some age groups not to indicate a safety concern, and recommended separate specifications for each manufacturing process.
Source document

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 E 904?: E 904 is Shellac, bleached. Shellac is the glaze on many sweets, chocolate coatings and coated fruit, and the coating on many tablets. It is a resin secreted by the lac insect and is not vegan; whether it is vegetarian is contested, because insects are killed during harvesting.
What is Shellac, bleached used for in food?: It is listed as a glazing agent — the role Canada, Codex and the US assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Where is Shellac, bleached permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the EU, Great Britain, South Korea and the Codex standard 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 Shellac, bleached vegan?: No. Shellac, bleached is animal-derived, and is not vegetarian either. This page says what it is made from.

Sources for this page

anz retrieved 2026-10-17
ca retrieved 2026-10-17
eu retrieved 2026-10-18
gb retrieved 2026-10-18
kr retrieved 2026-10-18
gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07
euspecs retrieved 2026-10-18
jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23

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

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