Starch acetate

INS 1420

Used as an emulsifier — Codex also lists it as stabilizer, thickener.

Starch acetate gives a clear, stable paste that resists retrogradation, the staling process that makes starch gels turn cloudy and weep. It is used in chilled and frozen foods.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Starch acetate by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationNot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

7 food categories

highest permitted level 50,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.2.1.1 Fermented milks (plain), not heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.1.2 Fermented milks (plain), heat-treated after fermentation — GMP
  • 01.2.2 Renneted milk (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.1 Pasteurized cream (plain) — GMP
  • 01.4.2 Sterilized and UHT creams, whipping and whipped creams, and reduced fat creams (plain) — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
  • 13.2 Complementary foods for infants and young children — 50,000 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 1420and 7 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Made by esterifying starch with acetic anhydride or vinyl acetate.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

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

INS number

  • 1420

Other names

  • STARCH ACETATE

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

  • gsfa 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/starch-acetate.json