Sodium metasilicate

CAS 6834-92-0

Listed as a processing aid by the US.

Listed as processing aids (US)
Chemical structure of Sodium metasilicate, from PubChem compound 23266
Structure from PubChem CID 23266 (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.

Sodium metasilicate is a strongly alkaline processing aid, used to peel fruit and vegetables chemically and to clean processing equipment. It is not an ingredient of the finished food.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Sodium metasilicate by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New ZealandNo 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 CanadaNo 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 UnionEuropean Commission / EFSANo 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 ScotlandNo 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 AgencyNo 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 SafetyPermitted, with conditions
Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 2. …

Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 2. 가공보조제 (processing aids), 메타규산나트륨 (“Sodium Metasilicate”, the English the Code prints beside it). Main use (주용도) of 메타규산나트륨: 여과보조제. Standard for use (사용기준) of 메타규산나트륨: (1) “메타규산나트륨은 식용유지류(동물성유지류, 모조치즈, 식물성크림 제외)에 여과보조제 목적에 한하여 사용하여야 하며, 최종식품 완성 전에 제거하여야 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 AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1769aretrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot 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.

South Korea—1 no quantity stated
United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Sodium metasilicate. 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

Produced by fusing sand with sodium carbonate.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
6834-92-0
InChIKey
NTHWMYGWWRZVTN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 23266

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 1344-09-8
  • 6834-92-0
  • 84992-49-4

As it appears in regulation

  • Sodium metasilicate

Other names

  • Agrosil LR
  • Agrosil S
  • as Bond 1001
  • Britesil
  • Britesil H 20
  • Britesil H 24
  • Carsil
  • Carsil (silicate)
  • Caswell No. 792
  • Crystamet
  • Disodium metasilicate
  • Disodium monosilicate
  • disodium oxosilanebis(olate)
  • disodium;dioxido(oxo)silane
  • Dryseq
  • Dupont 26
  • EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 072603
  • HSDB 753
  • IJF18F77L3
  • L 96 (salt)
  • Metso 20
  • Metso 99
  • Metso beads 2048
  • Metso beads, drymet
  • Metso pentabead 20
  • Orthosil
  • Portil A
  • Pyramid 1
  • Pyramid 8
  • Sikalon
  • Silica E
  • Silica K
  • Silica N
  • Silica R
  • Silican
  • Silicic acid (H2SiO3), disodium salt
  • Silicic acid (H2SiO3), disodium salt, pentahydrate (8CI,9CI)
  • Silicic acid (H2SiO3), sodium salt (1:2)
  • Silicic acid, disodium salt
  • Silicic acid, sodium salt
  • SILICON SODIUM OXIDE
  • Simet A
  • SODIUM BETA-SILICATE
  • Sodium metasilicate
  • Sodium metasilicate (Na2SiO3)
  • Sodium metasilicate, anhydrous
  • Sodium metasilicate, puriss.
  • Sodium sesquisilicate
  • SODIUM SILICATE
  • Sodium silicate (Na2SiO3)
  • Sodium silicate glass
  • SODIUM SILICON OXIDE (NA2SIO3)
  • Sodium siliconate
  • Sodium water glass
  • Soluble glass
  • Star
  • Water glass
  • Waterglass

Systematic names

  • Disodium;dioxido(oxo)silane

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 Sodium metasilicate?
Sodium metasilicate is a strongly alkaline processing aid, used to peel fruit and vegetables chemically and to clean processing equipment. It is not an ingredient of the finished food.
What is Sodium metasilicate used for in food?
It is listed as a processing aid — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Sodium metasilicate banned in Europe?
No. Sodium metasilicate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — processing aid — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is Sodium metasilicate permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, South Korea 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 Sodium metasilicate vegan?
Yes. Sodium metasilicate is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.

Sources for this page

  • kr retrieved 2026-10-18
  • ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17

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 Sodium metasilicate:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.