{
  "$schema": "https://foodadditiveindex.com/api/v1/schema.json",
  "id": "https://foodadditiveindex.com/additives/calcium-ferrocyanide",
  "slug": "calcium-ferrocyanide",
  "name": "Calcium ferrocyanide",
  "identifiers": {
    "e_number": "E538",
    "ins_number": "538",
    "cas_number": "13821-08-4",
    "inchikey": "BAZQCHGUTMBXBU-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
    "pubchem_cid": 166920
  },
  "functional_class": "Anticaking agent",
  "summary": "Calcium ferrocyanide is an anticaking agent for salt. The name alarms people, but the cyanide here is locked into an iron complex so stable that it does not behave as cyanide at all — it is the same chemistry as the pigment Prussian blue.",
  "derivation_summary": "Produced synthetically from a ferrocyanide salt and a calcium source. It is used at a few parts per million in salt, enough to change how the crystals grow.",
  "regulatory_status": [
    {
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "jurisdiction_name": "United States",
      "authority": "Food and Drug Administration",
      "status": "not_listed",
      "status_label": "Not listed",
      "note": "Does not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.",
      "provision_count": 0,
      "provisions": []
    },
    {
      "jurisdiction": "CODEX",
      "jurisdiction_name": "Codex Alimentarius",
      "authority": "Codex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA",
      "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
      "status_label": "Permitted, with conditions",
      "provision_count": 3,
      "provisions": [
        {
          "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
          "food_category": {
            "system": "codex",
            "code": "12.1.1",
            "name": "Salt"
          },
          "max_level": 14,
          "max_level_unit": "mg/kg",
          "conditions": "GSFA notes: 24 & 107",
          "effective_from": "2006",
          "citation": {
            "ref": "CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 538, food category 12.1.1",
            "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/"
          },
          "source": "gsfa",
          "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
        },
        {
          "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
          "food_category": {
            "system": "codex",
            "code": "12.1.2",
            "name": "Salt substitutes"
          },
          "max_level": 20,
          "max_level_unit": "mg/kg",
          "conditions": "GSFA notes: 24",
          "effective_from": "1999",
          "citation": {
            "ref": "CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 538, food category 12.1.2",
            "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/"
          },
          "source": "gsfa",
          "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
        },
        {
          "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
          "food_category": {
            "system": "codex",
            "code": "12.2.2",
            "name": "Seasonings and condiments"
          },
          "max_level": 20,
          "max_level_unit": "mg/kg",
          "conditions": "GSFA notes: 24",
          "effective_from": "1999",
          "citation": {
            "ref": "CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 538, food category 12.2.2",
            "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/"
          },
          "source": "gsfa",
          "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "names": [
    {
      "name": "13821-08-4",
      "type": "cas",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "906D36VLZG",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "BAZQCHGUTMBXBU-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "Calcium ferrocyanide",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "gsfa"
    },
    {
      "name": "Calcium hexacyanoferrate",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "calcium hexacyanoferrate(II)",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dicalcium hexacyanoferrate",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "DICALCIUM HEXACYANOFERRATE(4-)",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "dicalcium;iron(2+);hexacyanide",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "E 538",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ferrate(4), hexakis(cyanokappaC), calcium (1:2), (OC611)",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "FERRATE(4-), HEXACYANO-, DICALCIUM",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ferrate(4-), hexakis(cyano-.kappa.C)-, calcium (1:2), (OC-6-11)-",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "FERRATE(4-), HEXAKIS(CYANO-C)-, CALCIUM (1:2), (OC-6-11)-",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ferrate(4-), hexakis(cyano-kappaC)-, calcium (1:2), (OC-6-11)-",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "HEXACYANOFERRATE OF CALCIUM",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "INS NO.538",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "INS-538",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yellow prussiate of lime",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yellow prussiate of limeCalcium hexacyanoferrate",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "pubchem"
    },
    {
      "name": "E538",
      "type": "e_number",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "538",
      "type": "ins",
      "source": "gsfa"
    },
    {
      "name": "dicalcium;iron(2+);hexacyanide",
      "type": "iupac",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    }
  ],
  "hazard_reference_values": [
    {
      "type": "ADI",
      "value": 0.03,
      "value_text": null,
      "unit": "mg/kg bw/day",
      "population": "consumers",
      "assessing_body": "EFSA ANS",
      "year": 2018,
      "opinion": {
        "ref": "doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5374",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5374"
      }
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "key": "gsfa",
      "name": "Codex General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995)",
      "publisher": "Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/WHO)",
      "licence": "FAO terms — non-commercial use with attribution",
      "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
    }
  ],
  "citation_policy": "Cite as: Food Additive Index, \"Calcium ferrocyanide\", https://foodadditiveindex.com/additives/calcium-ferrocyanide. This site reports regulatory status and does not rate additives.",
  "generated_at": "2026-09-08T00:09:38.448Z"
}