Tannic acid

CAS 1401-55-4

Tannic acid is a clarifying agent and flavouring, used to fine beer and wine by binding haze-forming proteins, and to add astringency.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Tannic acid 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 184.1097retrieved 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

Extracted from plant galls — the growths oak and sumac make around insect larvae — or from tara pods and chestnut wood.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
1401-55-4

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 1401-55-4
  • 72401-53-7

As it appears in regulation

  • Tannic acid

Other names

  • Hydrolysable tannins
  • tannic acid

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/tannic-acid.json