What is Vitamin D used for in food?

It is listed as a nutrient supplement — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Vitamin D banned in Europe?

No. Vitamin D is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — nutrient supplement — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.

Where is Vitamin D 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.

It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Vitamin D 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.

Vitamin D

CAS 1406-16-2

Listed as a nutrient supplement by the US.

Listed as nutrient supplements (US)

United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: VITAMIN D
United States: Nutrient supplements — 21 CFR 184.1950, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(20)

Vitamin D is added to milk, margarine, cereals and plant drinks. Which form is used matters to a vegan diet: D2 comes from yeast or fungi, while D3 is usually made from lanolin, the wax in sheep's wool.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Vitamin D by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	Citation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New Zealand	No 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 Canada	No 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 / EFSA	No 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 Scotland	No 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 Agency	No 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 Safety	No 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 Administration	Permitted	21 CFR 184.1950retrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	Not 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 Vitamin D. 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

D2 is produced by ultraviolet irradiation of yeast or fungal sterols. D3 is normally made from lanolin, though a lichen-derived vegan D3 exists. A label saying only vitamin D does not distinguish them.

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.

CAS registry number: 1406-16-2

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

1406-16-2

As it appears in regulation

Vitamin D

Other names

vitamin D
VITD

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 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 Vitamin D?: Vitamin D is added to milk, margarine, cereals and plant drinks. Which form is used matters to a vegan diet: D2 comes from yeast or fungi, while D3 is usually made from lanolin, the wax in sheep's wool.
What is Vitamin D used for in food?: It is listed as a nutrient supplement — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Vitamin D banned in Europe?: No. Vitamin D is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — nutrient supplement — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
Where is Vitamin D 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 Vitamin D vegan?: It depends on the source, and a label will not tell you. Vitamin D 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

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.

Follow changes to Vitamin D:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.