Is it vegan?
Which E-numbers are vegan?
You are holding a packet and the ingredients list is a row of codes. Here is what each one is, and whether it came from an animal. 45 codes, each linked to the full page on that ingredient with its primary source.
6 not vegan 10 depends on the maker 29 vegan
An E-number names a substance, not its source. For the emulsifiers and the flavour enhancers, the same code covers a plant version and an animal version, so the honest answer is that it depends on the maker. Last reviewed August 22, 2026.
The ones that are always animal
E100–E199 · Colours
What gives food its colour. The animal one to know is carmine (E120), made from insects.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E120 | Carmine and cochineal (E120) | Not vegan | That bright natural red in the yogurt or the candy is often crushed insects. Carmine, cochineal extract, Natural Red 4, E120: all the same animal dye. |
| E150 | Caramel colour (E150) | Usually vegan | Caramel colour is burnt sugar, more or less, the brown in cola and gravy browning. It is almost always vegan, with a rare footnote about the sugar it starts from. |
| E160a | Beta-carotene (E160a) | Usually vegan | Beta-carotene is the orange in carrots, bottled as a colour and a supplement. The pigment is plant or lab-made; the only animal risk is the capsule it sometimes rides in. |
| E160b | Annatto (E160b) | Vegan | Annatto is the orange in a lot of cheddar and snack dust. It comes from a seed, so on the vegan test it is a clear pass, even when the food around it is not. |
| E170 | Calcium carbonate (chalk, E170) | Usually vegan | Calcium carbonate is chalk, essentially, quarried from rock to firm, whiten and fortify. It is a mineral, so it sits on the vegan side, with a rare shell-derived footnote. |
E200–E299 · Preservatives
Shelf-life additives. Almost all are synthetic or plant-derived; lysozyme (E1105) is the outlier.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E270 | Lactic acid (E270) | Usually vegan | Lactic acid sounds like it should be dairy. In a factory it is made by fermenting plant sugars, and the milk connection is mostly in the name. |
E300–E399 · Antioxidants and acidity regulators
Mostly synthetic or fermented, and mostly vegan. The source of tocopherols and lactic acid is the thing to check.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E300 | Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, E300) | Vegan | Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, the antioxidant on a thousand labels. It is built from glucose, which is about as plant-based as a starting material gets. |
| E306 | Tocopherols (vitamin E, E306 to E309) | Usually vegan | Tocopherols are vitamin E, added to keep oils from going rancid. They are pressed from vegetable oil, so the antioxidant itself is plant-based. |
| E307 | Tocopherols (vitamin E, E306 to E309) | Usually vegan | Tocopherols are vitamin E, added to keep oils from going rancid. They are pressed from vegetable oil, so the antioxidant itself is plant-based. |
| E309 | Tocopherols (vitamin E, E306 to E309) | Usually vegan | Tocopherols are vitamin E, added to keep oils from going rancid. They are pressed from vegetable oil, so the antioxidant itself is plant-based. |
| E322 | Lecithin (E322) | Usually vegan | The emulsifier in your chocolate is almost always soya or sunflower, both vegan. Just now and then, especially in baked goods, it is whipped from egg yolk instead. |
| E330 | Citric acid (E330) | Vegan | Citric acid is the sour note in half the pantry. It is grown by a mould on sugar, which is a lot less glamorous than lemons and just as vegan. |
E400–E499 · Thickeners, gelling agents and emulsifiers
The gums, seaweeds and emulsifiers. This is where mono- and diglycerides (E471) and glycerin (E422) live: plant or animal fat, and the label rarely says.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E401 | Alginate (algin, E401 to E404) | Vegan | Alginate is seaweed turned into a gelling powder, the trick behind those little juice pearls. It is plant-based from the tide up. |
| E404 | Alginate (algin, E401 to E404) | Vegan | Alginate is seaweed turned into a gelling powder, the trick behind those little juice pearls. It is plant-based from the tide up. |
| E406 | Agar (agar-agar, E406) | Vegan | Agar is the vegan answer to gelatin, a firm jelly set from seaweed. It has been doing this job in Asian kitchens for a very long time. |
| E407 | Carrageenan (E407) | Vegan | Carrageenan is a thickener pulled from red seaweed. It has its critics on other grounds, but the vegan question is not one of them. |
| E410 | Locust bean gum (carob gum, E410) | Vegan | Despite a name that sounds like an insect, locust bean gum is pure carob seed. It gives ice cream its scoopable chew. |
| E412 | Guar gum (E412) | Vegan | Guar gum is a thickener ground from a legume. Bean to powder, there is no animal step anywhere in it. |
| E414 | Gum arabic (acacia gum, E414) | Vegan | Gum arabic is hardened sap from acacia trees. It is the quiet stabiliser behind fizzy drinks and gummy sweets, and it is entirely plant-based. |
| E415 | Xanthan gum (E415) | Usually vegan | Xanthan gum is a thickener grown by bacteria on sugar. It is almost always vegan, with a rare asterisk over what the bacteria were fed. |
| E418 | Gellan gum (E418) | Vegan | Gellan gum is a gelling agent grown by bacteria, not scraped from an animal. It is what keeps the cocoa evenly suspended in your oat milk. |
| E420 | Sorbitol (E420) | Vegan | Sorbitol is a sweetener and moisture-keeper made from plant glucose. It is the reason sugar-free gum stays soft, and it is plant-based. |
| E422 | Glycerin / glycerol (E422) | It depends | This sweet, syrupy workhorse shows up in everything from icing to toothpaste. It can be pressed from plant oil, rendered from animal fat, or built from petroleum, and E422 keeps the secret. |
| E425 | Konjac (glucomannan, E425) | Vegan | Konjac is a plant whose root fibre becomes shirataki noodles and wobbly jelly. Root to noodle, it is entirely plant-based. |
| E433 | Polysorbates (Polysorbate 80, E433) | It depends | Polysorbate 80 is the emulsifier that keeps ice cream smooth and sauces from splitting. It is built partly from a fatty acid, and that fatty acid is where the vegan question lives. |
| E440 | Pectin (E440) | Vegan | Pectin is the setting power inside fruit, the reason a jam thickens. It is about as plant-based as an ingredient gets. |
| E471 | Mono- and diglycerides (E471) | It depends | This emulsifier is in half the bread aisle, and it starts life as fat. That fat can be soya oil or beef tallow, and E471 on the packet will not say which. |
| E481 | Stearoyl lactylates (E481, E482) | It depends | Sodium and calcium stearoyl lactylate are bread and cake softeners with two reassuring plant-sounding parts and one that is not guaranteed. The stearic acid is the question mark. |
| E482 | Stearoyl lactylates (E481, E482) | It depends | Sodium and calcium stearoyl lactylate are bread and cake softeners with two reassuring plant-sounding parts and one that is not guaranteed. The stearic acid is the question mark. |
E500–E599 · Acidity regulators and anti-caking agents
Mineral salts, mostly. Bone phosphate (E542) is exactly what it sounds like.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E542 | Bone phosphate (E542) | Not vegan | Bone phosphate, additive E542, is exactly what it sounds like. It is ground animal bone, used as an anti-caking agent and a mineral source. |
| E551 | Silicon dioxide (silica, E551) | Vegan | Silicon dioxide is sand, essentially, added to keep powders from clumping. There is nothing animal about a mineral. |
| E570 | Stearic acid and magnesium stearate (E570) | It depends | This is the quiet powder that stops tablets and sweets from sticking. The fatty acid behind it can come from vegetable oil or from beef tallow, and 'magnesium stearate' will not say. |
E600–E699 · Flavour enhancers
MSG and the ribonucleotides. E621 is fermented and vegan; E627, E631 and E635 can start from fish or meat.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E621 | Monosodium glutamate (MSG, E621) | Vegan | MSG is savoury seasoning made the way vinegar is: fermentation. Its reputation has taken more hits than it deserves, and none of them is that it is an animal product. |
| E627 | Disodium guanylate (E627) | It depends | Disodium guanylate, E627, is made by fermentation, which sounds vegan-friendly. The wrinkle is that it almost never travels alone, and its usual partner is the one to watch. |
| E631 | Disodium inosinate (E631) | It depends | Disodium inosinate, E631, is a savoury flavour booster with a murky supply chain. It can come from fish, from meat, or from fermentation, and the label rarely says which. |
| E635 | Disodium ribonucleotides (E635) | It depends | E635 is not one additive but two working together: disodium inosinate plus disodium guanylate. Its vegan status is only as clean as the inosinate inside it. |
| E640 | Glycine (E640) | Usually vegan | Glycine is the simplest amino acid, sold as a sweetish additive and supplement. The commercial version is synthesised in a factory, not boiled out of an animal. |
E900–E999 · Glazing agents and sweeteners
The shine on sweets and the sugar alcohols. Beeswax (E901) and shellac (E904) are both animal products.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E901 | Beeswax (E901) | Not vegan | Beeswax is a bee product. Worker bees secrete it to build the comb, so the shine on a waxed apple or a sweet, and the base of many a lip balm, comes straight from the hive. |
| E904 | Shellac and confectioner's glaze (E904) | Not vegan | That mirror shine on candy is bug resin. Shellac, confectioner's glaze, resinous glaze, E904: a secretion of the lac insect. |
| E920 | L-cysteine (E920) | Sometimes | L-cysteine softens dough and often starts as animal keratin, from feathers or hair. Fermentation-made and synthetic versions are vegan, so it genuinely depends. |
| E960 | Stevia (steviol glycosides, E960) | Vegan | Stevia is sweetness from a leaf, hundreds of times stronger than sugar. It is a plant extract, no animal step required. |
| E966 | Lactitol (E966) | Not vegan | Lactitol is a low-calorie sweetener with a dairy secret in its name. It is made from lactose, so the milk connection is not a coincidence. |
| E967 | Xylitol (E967) | Vegan | Xylitol is the tooth-friendly sweetener made from birch or corn. It is plant-based, though a quick warning: it is dangerous to dogs. |
| E968 | Erythritol (E968) | Vegan | Erythritol is a sweetener grown by yeast on plant sugar. Unlike its milk-derived cousin lactitol, its name hides nothing. |
E1000+ · Enzymes, starches and additional additives
The tail of the list. Lysozyme (E1105) comes from egg white.
| Code | Additive | Verdict | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1105 | Lysozyme (E1105) | Not vegan | Lysozyme, additive E1105, is an enzyme pulled straight from egg white. It quietly guards some hard cheeses and the odd wine. |
Common questions
Which E-numbers are not vegan?
The ones that start as an animal: carmine (E120) from cochineal insects, bone phosphate (E542) from animal bone, beeswax (E901), shellac (E904) from the lac insect, lysozyme (E1105) from egg white, and lactitol (E966), which is made from lactose. That is the short list of definite exclusions among the 45 codes on this page.
Which E-numbers depend on the manufacturer?
The fat-derived and fermentation-derived ones. Mono- and diglycerides (E471), glycerin (E422), stearic acid (E570), stearoyl lactylate (E481 and E482) and polysorbates (E433) can all be made from plant oil or animal tallow, and the label almost never says which. The ribonucleotide flavour enhancers (E627, E631, E635) can start from fish or meat. L-cysteine (E920) can come from feathers or from bacterial fermentation.
Does an E-number tell you whether an ingredient is vegan?
No. An E-number identifies a substance, not its feedstock. E471 is a chemical description of an emulsifier; the same code covers a version made from rapeseed oil and a version made from beef tallow. For that group of additives the code narrows the question but does not answer it, and only the manufacturer can.
Are E-numbers bad for you?
That is a separate question from whether they are vegan, and this shelf only answers the second one. Every additive with an E-number has passed a European safety evaluation to get the number in the first place. Whether a given additive suits you is a matter for you and, where it matters, a doctor or dietitian.
Why do some products list a name instead of an E-number?
Both are legal. EU and UK rules let a manufacturer print either the additive name or its E-number, so the same emulsifier reads as E471 on one pack and as mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids on another. US labels do not use E-numbers at all and print names only, which is why an American shopper meets these substances under their chemical names.
Looking for something that has no code? The full shelf covers gelatin, rennet, casein, isinglass and the rest of the label small print: every ingredient we have checked.
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