Stannous chloride (anhydrous and dihydrated)

Stannous chloride is an antioxidant and colour retention agent, used most characteristically in canned white asparagus, where it keeps the spears from greying.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Stannous chloride (anhydrous and dihydrated) by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1845retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

What it is made from

Made by dissolving tin in hydrochloric acid. It works by being more readily oxidised than the food, so it takes the oxygen first.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

  • Stannous chloride (anhydrous and dihydrated)

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 by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • ecfr 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/stannous-chloride-anhydrous-and-dihydrated.json