Succinylated monoglycerides

Listed as an emulsifier, a raising agent and a dough strengthener by the US.

Listed as emulsifiers (US) · raising agents (US) · dough strengtheners (US)

Succinylated monoglycerides are dough conditioners and emulsifiers, used in bread and in shortenings.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Succinylated monoglycerides 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 SafetyNo 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 AdministrationPermitted, with conditions21 CFR 172.830retrieved 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.

United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Succinylated monoglycerides. 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 monoglycerides with succinic anhydride. The underlying fat may be plant or animal.

  • 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.

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.

Succinylated Monoglycerides

A mixture of succinic acid esters of mono- and diglycerides produced by the succinylation of a product obtained by the glycerolysis of edible fats and oils, or by the direct esterification of glycerol with edible fat-forming fatty acids.

Synonyms: INS No. 472 (g)

Assay, identification and purity criteria

Description and assay

Specification history
Prepared at the 26th JECFA (1982), published in FNP 25 (1982) and in FNP 52 (1992). Metals and arsenic specifications revised at the 55th JECFA (2000). No ADI was allocated at the 26th JECFA (1982)
Structural formula
(approximate composition) where R1, R2 and R3 may be a fatty acid or succinic acid or hydrogen
DESCRIPTION
Waxy solid having an off-white colour
FUNCTIONAL USES
Emulsifier, dough conditioner

Identification

Solubility (Vol. 4)
Soluble in warm methanol, in ethanol and in propan-1-ol
Test for fatty acids (Vol. 4)
Passes test
Test for succinic acid (Vol. 4)
Passes test
Test for glycerol (Vol. 4)
Passes test

Purity criteria

Acid value (Vol. 4)
Between 70 and 120
Hydroxyl value (Vol. 4)
Between 138 and 152
Iodine value (Vol. 4)
Not more than 3 (Wijs method)
Free and bound succinic acid
Not more than 3% of free succinic acid; not less than 14.8% of bound succinic acid See description under TESTS
L ead (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: Free and bound succinic acid
0.02 N Sodium hydroxide in methanol: Dissolve 4 g of sodium hydroxide in 1000 ml of anhydrous methanol. Transfer 200 ml of this solution to a 1000 ml volumetric flask, dilute to volume with anhydrous methanol, and mix. Standardize the solution against dried succinic acid, using phenolphthalein TS as the indicator. Procedure Transfer about 125 mg of the sample, accurately weighed into a 250 ml separator containing 100 ml of benzene, and dissolve the sample by heating the separator with warm water. Treat the sample and a blank, consisting of 100 ml of benzene in another separator, in the same manner as follows: cool the contents of the separator, add 50 ml of water, and mix by inverting the separator about 20 times. Allow to stand for about 15 min and then transfer the aqueous layer into a 125-ml Erlenmeyer flask. Add 10 ml of water to the separator, wash the benzene layer by inverting the separator five times, and add the washings to the 125 ml flask. To the flask add five drops of phenolphthalein TS and titrate with 0.02 N sodium hydroxide in methanol. Perform a blank determination and record the net volume of alkali, in ml, as V1. Transfer the benzene layer into a 500-ml round-bottom flask and rinse the separator with 10 ml of benzene. Add a few boiling chips to the flask, and evaporate the benzene, preferably on a thin-film evaporator, under partial vacuum at about 60 o . Dissolve the residue in the flask in 10 ml of methanol, add 10 ml of water and five drops of phenolphthalein TS, and titrate with 0.02 N sodium hydroxide in methanol. Perform a blank determination, and record the net volume of alkali, in ml, as V2. Calculate the weight, in mg, of free succinic acid in the sample by the formula (V1/2) (N) (118.1), and calculate the weight, in mg, of bound succinic acid in the sample by the formula (V2) (N) (118.1), in which N is the exact normality of the sodium hydroxide solution.

FAO JECFA Monograph 1 (2006)

Every name it appears under

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

As it appears in regulation

  • Succinylated monoglycerides

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADInot allocated—JECFA1982

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 Succinylated monoglycerides?
Succinylated monoglycerides are dough conditioners and emulsifiers, used in bread and in shortenings.
What is Succinylated monoglycerides used for in food?
It is listed as an emulsifier, a raising agent and a dough strengthener — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Succinylated monoglycerides banned in Europe?
No. Succinylated monoglycerides 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 Succinylated monoglycerides permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Is Succinylated monoglycerides vegan?
It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Succinylated monoglycerides 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

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17
  • jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23

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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