What is Sodium stearyl fumarate used for in food?

It is listed as a raising agent, a flour treatment agent and a dough strengthener — the role the US and Canada assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Sodium stearyl fumarate banned in Europe?

No. Sodium stearyl fumarate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.

Where is Sodium stearyl fumarate permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada 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 stearyl fumarate vegan?

It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Sodium stearyl fumarate can be made from plant or animal material, manufacturers are not obliged to say which, and the same product can change between production runs. Anyone who needs to know has to ask the manufacturer.

Sodium stearyl fumarate

CAS 4070-80-8

Listed as a raising agent, a flour treatment agent and a dough strengthener by the US and Canada.

Listed as raising agents (US) · flour treatment agents (CA) · dough strengtheners (US) · lubricants and release agents (US)

United States: Leavening agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SODIUM STEARYL FUMARATE
Canada: Flour treatment agent — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)
United States: Dough strengthener — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SODIUM STEARYL FUMARATE
United States: Lubricant or release agent — FDA, Substances Added to Food: SODIUM STEARYL FUMARATE

Structure from PubChem CID 23665634 (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 stearyl fumarate is a dough conditioner and lubricant, used in bread, rolls and processed cereals.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Sodium stearyl fumarate 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	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.
CanadaHealth Canada	Permitted, with conditions	2 permitted uses Show every permitted use In: Bread. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: 5,000 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item S.2(a) In: Unstandardized bakery products. Purpose: Flour treatment agent. Limit: 5,000 ppm of the flour. — Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2), item S.2(b)	Health Canada, List of Permitted Flour Treatment Agents (List 2)and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-10-17
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSA	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 BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards Scotland	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.
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	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 StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted, with conditions		21 CFR 172.826retrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	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.

Canada	—	2 no quantity stated
United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Sodium stearyl fumarate. 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

Made by reacting stearyl alcohol with fumaric acid and neutralising. The stearyl alcohol may be plant or animal in origin.

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.

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number: 4070-80-8
InChIKey: STFSJTPVIIDAQX-LTRPLHCISA-M
PubChem: CID 23665634

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

4070-80-8

As it appears in regulation

Sodium stearyl fumarate

Other names

2-Butenedioic acid (E)-, monoactadecyl ester, sodium salt
3-trimethoxysilyl-propyl-methacrylate
7CV7WJK4UI
C22H39NaO4
Ethyl [(diethoxyphosphor
Fumaric Acid Octadecyl Ester Sodium Salt
Fumaric Acid Stearyl Ester Sodium Salt
Fumaric acid, monooctadecyl ester, sodium salt
Monosodium stearyl fumarate
Pruv
sodium (E)-4-(octadecyloxy)-4-oxobut-2-enoate
Sodium 2-octadecylfumarate
Sodium monooctadecyl 2-butenedioate, (E)-
Sodium monooctadecyl fumarate
Sodium monostearyl fumarate
Sodium octadecyl (E)-butenedioate
SODIUM OCTADECYL FUMARATE
Sodium stearyl fumarate
Sodium stearyl fumarate (NF)
Sodium stearyl fumarate CRS
Sodium stearyl fumarate; Sodium octadecyl (E)-butenedioate
sodium;(E)-4-octadecoxy-4-oxo-but-2-enoate
sodium;(E)-4-octadecoxy-4-oxobut-2-enoate
stearyl fumarate sodium
Stearyl fumarate sodium 100 microg/mL in Methanol

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 stearyl fumarate?: Sodium stearyl fumarate is a dough conditioner and lubricant, used in bread, rolls and processed cereals.
What is Sodium stearyl fumarate used for in food?: It is listed as a raising agent, a flour treatment agent and a dough strengthener — the role the US and Canada assign it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Sodium stearyl fumarate banned in Europe?: No. Sodium stearyl fumarate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is Sodium stearyl fumarate permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, Canada 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 stearyl fumarate vegan?: It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Sodium stearyl fumarate can be made from plant or animal material, manufacturers are not obliged to say which, and the same product can change between production runs. Anyone who needs to know has to ask the manufacturer.

Sources for this page

ca retrieved 2026-10-17
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.

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