Vitamin D3

CAS 67-97-0

Listed as a nutrient supplement by the US.

Listed as nutrient supplements (US)
Chemical structure of Vitamin D3, from PubChem compound 5280795
Structure from PubChem CID 5280795 (National Library of Medicine, public domain). A depiction of one compound: where a listing covers a family, or a substance has no single structure, this page shows none.

Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is the form of vitamin D that human skin makes in sunlight and the form used in most fortification and supplements. Commercially it is almost always made from lanolin, the wax in sheep's wool, so it is not vegan unless specifically declared lichen-derived.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Vitamin D3 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 AgencyPermitted, with conditions
Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 151, コレカルシフェロール（別名ビタミンＤ３） (“Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3)” in the unofficial English translation). …

Designated additive: Appended Table 1, item 151, コレカルシフェロール（別名ビタミンＤ３） (“Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3)” in the unofficial English translation). Standards for use — Specifications and Standards for Foods, Food Additives, etc. (MHW Notification No. 370 of 1959), Part II (Food Additives), F (Standards for use): The Notification sets no standard for use (使用基準) for this additive, so it is not restricted there to particular foods or amounts. Compositional specifications for this additive, in the same Notification, are not imported and are not shown here; nor are the general rules in F 添加物一般, which apply to every additive.

Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act (MHW Ordinance No. 23 of 1948), Appended Table 1retrieved 2026-10-18
South KoreaMinistry of Food and Drug SafetyPermitted, with conditions
Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 3. …

Designated food additive: Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, Part III, 3. 영양강화제 (nutrient fortifiers), 비타민D3; nutrient: 비타민D. Standard for use (사용기준) of 비타민D3: (1) [to be used under the general standard for use in II. 2. 1), the minimum amount that achieves the technical effect, with no limit set for this additive in particular] “II. 2. 1)의 규정에 따라 사용하여야 한다.” The Korean is the standard as published. There is no official English translation of the current Code (the English version on MFDS’s website is the 2020 edition and has no legal effect); the English in square brackets is this site’s description of what each sentence does, not a translation of the foods or the levels. Compositional specifications (Part IV) are not imported, nor are the general standards in Part II, which apply to every additive.

Standards and Specifications for Food Additives (식품첨가물의 기준 및 규격), MFDS Notification, Part III (Standards for use, by item)retrieved 2026-10-18
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted, with conditions21 CFR 172.380retrieved 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.

Japan—1 no quantity stated
South Korea—1 no quantity stated
United States—1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Vitamin D3. 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 ultraviolet irradiation of cholesterol extracted from lanolin, the wax in wool shorn from living sheep. D2, from yeast or fungi, is the non-animal alternative form of the vitamin.

  • Not vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • May raise a kosher question

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

CAS registry number
67-97-0
InChIKey
QYSXJUFSXHHAJI-YRZJJWOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 5280795

Every name it appears under

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

CAS registry number

  • 67-97-0

As it appears in regulation

  • Vitamin D3

Other names

  • (+)-Vitamin D3
  • (3beta,5Z,7E)-9,10-secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol
  • (3S,5Z,7E)-9,10-secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol
  • (5Z,7E)-(3S)-9,10-seco-5,7,10(19)-cholestatrien-3-ol
  • (5Z,7E)-(3S)-9,10-secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol
  • 9,10-Secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-beta-ol
  • 9,10-Secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol
  • Aciferol d3
  • AK R215 COMPONENT COLECALCIFEROL
  • AK-R215 COMPONENT COLECALCIFEROL
  • Arachitol
  • Aviticol
  • Calceos
  • Calci-d
  • Calcichew d3
  • Calciol
  • Caldrink d3
  • Calfovit d3
  • CHOCAL
  • cholecalciferol
  • cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3)
  • Cholecalciferol, D3
  • Cholecalciferolum
  • Colecalciferol
  • Colecalciferolo
  • Colecalciferolum
  • Colecalcipherol
  • Cubicole d3
  • D3-Vicotrat
  • D3-Vigantol
  • Dekristol
  • Delsterol
  • Delta-D
  • Deparal
  • Desunin
  • Duphafral D3 1000
  • Ebivit
  • Kora liquid
  • NEO Dohyfral D3
  • Oleovitamin D3
  • Osteocaps d3
  • Plenachol
  • Provitina
  • Rampage
  • Ricketon
  • Royalvit d3
  • Thorens
  • Trivitan
  • Vi-de-3-hydrosol
  • Vigantol
  • VIGANTOLETTEN
  • Vigorsan
  • Vitamin d (cholecalciferol)
  • Vitamin D 3
  • Vitamin d assay system suitability
  • vitamin d-3
  • Vitamin D3
  • Vitamin d3 (as cholecalciferol)
  • vitaminum d3
  • Vitinc Dan-Dee-3
  • Zymad

Systematic names

  • (1S,3Z)-3-[(2E)-2-[(1R,3aS,7aR)-1-[(1R)-1,5-dimethylhexyl]-7a-methyl-2,3,3a,5,6,7-hexahydro-1H-inden-4-ylidene]ethylidene]-4-methylene-cyclohexanol
  • (1S,3Z)-3-[(2E)-2-[(1R,3aS,7aR)-7a-methyl-1-[(2R)-6-methylheptan-2-yl]-2,3,3a,5,6,7-hexahydro-1H-inden-4-ylidene]ethylidene]-4-methylidenecyclohexan-1-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 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 D3?
Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is the form of vitamin D that human skin makes in sunlight and the form used in most fortification and supplements. Commercially it is almost always made from lanolin, the wax in sheep's wool, so it is not vegan unless specifically declared lichen-derived.
What is Vitamin D3 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 D3 banned in Europe?
No. Vitamin D3 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 D3 permitted?
Of the seven regulators this site reads, Japan, South Korea and the US permit 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 D3 vegan?
No. Vitamin D3 is animal-derived, though it is generally accepted as vegetarian. This page says what it is made from.

Sources for this page

  • jp retrieved 2026-10-18
  • kr retrieved 2026-10-18
  • 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 D3:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.