Tocopherols

E number E308INS 307aCAS 7616-22-0

Used as an antioxidant.

Tocopherols are the vitamin E family, used as antioxidants to stop fats and oils going rancid. They are the usual choice where a manufacturer wants a natural alternative to BHA or BHT.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Tocopherols 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 182.3890and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

67 food categories

highest permitted level 5,000 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 01.1.2 Other Fluid Milk (plain) — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.1.4 Flavoured Fluid Milk Drinks — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.3.2 Beverage whiteners — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.4.4 Cream analogues — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.6.1 Unripened cheese — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.6.2.3 Cheese powder (for reconstitution; e.g. for cheese sauces) — 300 mg/kg
  • 01.6.4 Processed cheese — 200 mg/kg
  • 01.6.5 Cheese analogues — 400 mg/kg
  • 01.7 Dairy-based desserts (e.g. pudding, fruit or flavoured yoghurt) — 500 mg/kg
  • 01.8 Whey and whey products, excluding whey cheeses — 200 mg/kg
  • 02.1.1 Butter oil, anhydrous milkfat, ghee — 500 mg/kg
  • 02.1.2 Vegetable oils and fats — 300 mg/kg
  • 02.1.3 Lard, tallow, fish oil, and other animal fats — 300 mg/kg
  • 02.2.2 Fat spreads, dairy fat spreads and blended spreads — 500 mg/kg
  • 02.3 Fat emulsions mainly of type oil-in-water, including mixed and/or flavoured products based on fat emulsions — 900 mg/kg
  • 02.4 Fat-based desserts excluding dairy-based dessert products of food category 01.7 — 200 mg/kg
  • 03.0 Edible ices, including sherbet and sorbet — 500 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.11 Fruit fillings for pastries — 150 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.2 Dried fruit — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.6 Fruit-based spreads (e.g. chutney) excluding products of food category — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.8 Fruit preparations, including pulp, purees, fruit toppings and coconut milk — 150 mg/kg
  • 04.1.2.9 Fruit-based desserts, incl. fruit-flavoured water-based desserts — 500 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.2 Dried vegetables (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweeds, and nuts and seeds — 200 mg/kg
  • 04.2.2.5 Vegetable (including mushrooms and fungi, roots and tubers, pulses and legumes, and aloe vera), seaweed, and nut and seed purees and spreads (e.g. peanut butter) — 300 mg/kg
  • 05.1.2 Cocoa mixes (syrups) — 500 mg/kg
  • 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings — 100 mg/kg
  • 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products — 750 mg/kg
  • 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products — 500 mg/kg
  • 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4 — 500 mg/kg
  • 05.3 Chewing gum — 1,500 mg/kg
  • 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 500 mg/kg
  • 06.2.1 Flours — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 06.3 Breakfast cereals, including rolled oats — 200 mg/kg
  • 06.4.2 Dried pastas and noodles and like products — 500 mg/kg
  • 06.4.3 Pre-cooked pastas and noodles and like products — 200 mg/kg
  • 06.5 Cereal and starch based desserts (e.g. rice pudding, tapioca pudding) — 500 mg/kg
  • 06.6 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) — 100 mg/kg
  • 06.8.1 Soybean-based beverages — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.1.2 Crackers, excluding sweet crackers — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.1.6 Mixes for bread and ordinary bakery wares — 100 mg/kg
  • 07.2.1 Cakes, cookies and pies (e.g. fruit-filled or custard types) — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.2.2 Other fine bakery products (e.g. doughnuts, sweet rolls, scones, and muffins) — 200 mg/kg
  • 07.2.3 Mixes for fine bakery wares (e.g. cakes, pancakes) — 200 mg/kg
  • 08.1.2 Fresh meat, poultry and game, comminuted — 300 mg/kg
  • 08.2 Processed meat, poultry, and game products in whole pieces or cuts — 500 mg/kg
  • 08.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 500 mg/kg
  • 08.4 Edible casings (e.g. sausage casings) — 5,000 mg/kg
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — 200 mg/kg
  • 10.4 Egg-based desserts (e.g. custard) — 500 mg/kg
  • 12.2 Herbs, spices, seasonings, and condiments (e.g. seasoning for instant noodles) — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 12.4 Mustards — 200 mg/kg
  • 12.5 Soups and broths — 50 mg/kg
  • 12.6.1 Emulsified sauces and dips (e.g. mayonnaise, salad dressing, onion dips) — 600 mg/kg
  • 12.6.2 Non-emulsified sauces (e.g. ketchup, cheese sauce, cream sauce, brown gravy) — 600 mg/kg
  • 12.6.3 Mixes for sauces and gravies — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.1.1 Infant formulae — 10 mg/kg
  • 13.1.2 Follow-up formulae — 30 mg/kg
  • 13.1.3 Formulae for special medical purposes for infants — 10 mg/kg
  • 13.2 Complementary foods for infants and young children — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.3 Dietetic foods intended for special medical purposes (excluding products of food category 13.1) — 30 mg/kg
  • 13.4 Dietetic formulae for slimming purposes and weight reduction — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.5 Dietetic foods (e.g. supplementary foods for dietary use) excluding products of food categories — 300 mg/kg
  • 13.6 Food supplements — 2,000 mg/kg
  • 14.1.4 Water-based flavoured drinks, including "sport," “energy,” or "electrolyte" drinks and particulated drinks — 200 mg/kg
  • 14.2.7 Aromatized alcoholic beverages (e.g. beer, wine and spirituous cooler-type beverages, low-alcoholic refreshers) — 5 mg/kg
  • 15.1 Snacks - potato, cereal, flour or starch based (from roots and tubers, pulses and legumes) — 200 mg/kg
  • 15.2 Processed nuts, including coated nuts and nut mixtures (with e.g. dried fruit) — 200 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 307aand 66 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Recovered from the distillate left over from refining vegetable oils, chiefly soya, sunflower and rapeseed. Synthetic forms exist but the additive is normally the plant-derived mixture.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
7616-22-0
InChIKey
QUEDXNHFTDJVIY-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 14986

Every name it appears under

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

E number

  • E308

INS number

  • 307a

CAS registry number

  • 1406-66-2
  • 73980-80-0
  • 7616-22-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Tocopherols

Other names

  • ( inverted exclamation markA)-|A-Tocopherol
  • (+/-)-gamma-Tocopherol
  • (Rac)-gamma-Tocopherol
  • .gamma.-Tokoferol
  • 2,5,7,8-Tetramethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)chroman-6-ol
  • 2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-3,4-dihydrochromen-6-ol
  • 2H-1-Benzopyran-6-ol, 3,4-dihydro-2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-
  • 3,4-Dihydro-2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-2H-benzopyran-6-ol
  • 6-Chromanol, 2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-
  • 7,8-Dimethyltocolo-xylotocopherol
  • Antioxidans E-Hevert
  • BatanaOil
  • CCRIS 3610
  • CCRIS 4506
  • Cocoa Butter Formula
  • Conju Princess
  • Conju Princess Cleansing Balm
  • COVI-OX T 50 C
  • COVI-OX T 70 C
  • CVC Hair Vitamin
  • CVC VITAMIN C VITAMIN E
  • d-alpha-Tocopherol
  • Dal E
  • dl-γ-Tocopherol
  • DRUGGIST HAIR VITAMIN
  • E 308
  • E Mulsin
  • E Vicotrat
  • E-MIX 80
  • Gamma-tocopherol
  • Guangzhou Yilong Cosmetics Co., Ltd
  • GZE LIP BALM
  • Lasar
  • Massage Eaethworm Cream
  • Methyltocols
  • Micorvit E
  • MIXED TOCOPHEROLS 95
  • ORISTAR MIXED TOCOPHEROLS
  • Q7 Carrot Body
  • Rac-gamma-tocopherol
  • Skin Care and Hair Care Set
  • Stretch Warks Cream
  • Tocopherol
  • Tocopherol 5%
  • Tocopherols
  • TUREMRIC
  • Uno Vit
  • UnoVit
  • Vita Plus E
  • VitaE
  • Vitamin E Dragees
  • Vitamin E EVI MIRALE
  • Vitamin E mp
  • Vitamin E, Mowivit
  • Vitamin E, Togasan
  • Vitamin E, Vitagutt
  • Vitamin E-mp
  • Vitamin Emp
  • VitaminE EVIMIRALE
  • VITAMINOIL
  • VitaPlus E

Systematic names

  • 2,7,8-Trimethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-3,4-dihydrochromen-6-ol

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
  • 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/tocopherols.json