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Food additives (E numbers): real dangers or harmless? What the science really says

Daniel Platteau

In short: an E number means that an additive has been assessed and authorised in the European Union, not that it is "chemical" or dangerous: vitamin C (E300) and citric acid (E330) have one. The vast majority of additives pose no problem at the amounts consumed. A few raise real questions, and Europe has already withdrawn or restricted some. The most useful step is not to hunt down every E, but to cut back on ultra-processed foods, which contain the most.

What is a food additive?

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) defines them as substances added to food and drinks for a technical reason: to keep them longer, make them safer, or give them colour, taste or texture. They come in very different families, and the numbers roughly follow these families, with exceptions:

  • Colours: they add or restore colour (E100 to E199).
  • Preservatives: they stop bacteria and moulds from growing (E200 onwards).
  • Antioxidants: they prevent rancidity and browning (E300 onwards).
  • Thickeners, gelling agents, emulsifiers: they give texture and stop oil and water from separating (E400 onwards).
  • Sweeteners, flavour enhancers, raising agents, and so on.

More than 300 substances are authorised as additives in the European Union.

What the "E" means

The E means that the additive has been assessed and authorised at European level, an authorisation that can later be withdrawn, as for E171 (see below). The number says nothing about how dangerous it is or where it comes from. Many additives are natural or identical to substances we eat every day:

  • E300: vitamin C (ascorbic acid);
  • E330: citric acid, found in lemons;
  • E160a: carotenes, the ones in carrots;
  • E440: pectins, which make jam set.

Conversely, "natural" does not mean harmless. What matters is the dose and the use, not the origin.

An E number shows that an additive has been assessed and authorised in Europe. It says neither that it is dangerous nor that it has no effect at all.

Who decides?

The framework is set by a 2008 European regulation, which establishes a single list of authorised additives, with, for each one, the foods it may be used in and the maximum amounts.

The roles are separate:

  • EFSA assesses the risks on the basis of scientific studies;
  • the European Commission and the Member States decide whether to authorise, restrict or ban, and set the conditions of use;
  • in Belgium, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) checks compliance in the products sold.

The acceptable daily intake (ADI) explained

For most additives, EFSA sets an acceptable daily intake: the amount that can be consumed every day, over a lifetime, without appreciable risk to health. It is expressed in milligrams per kilo of body weight.

To calculate it, experts start from the highest dose that caused no effect in animals, then usually divide it by 100: a factor of 10 for differences between animals and humans, and another factor of 10 for differences between individuals.

Two practical consequences:

  • exceeding the ADI on one day is generally not a concern: the margin is wide, and what counts is average consumption over time;
  • the most exposed people are those who consume a lot of the same product, and children, who eat more per kilo of body weight.

Example: for aspartame, the ADI is 40 mg per kilo. According to the WHO, a 70 kg adult would have to drink more than 9 to 14 cans of diet soft drink a day to exceed it (depending on the drink's content), with no other source of aspartame.

Additives are re-evaluated, and sometimes withdrawn

An authorisation is not permanent. Since 2010, EFSA has been re-evaluating all additives authorised before 2009 using current methods: 315 additives in total. In September 2026, 70 were still pending, according to the European Commission. These re-evaluations have already changed the rules:

  • Titanium dioxide (E171): this white colour, used in sweets, pastries and sauces, has been banned in the Union since 2022. In 2021, EFSA concluded that a risk to DNA (genotoxicity) could not be ruled out.
  • Nitrites and nitrates (E249 to E252): used in cured meats against the botulism bacterium, they can form nitrosamines, some of which are carcinogenic. Europe lowered their maximum levels, which have applied to meat and fish since 9 October 2025.

Hazard or risk: the example of aspartame

In July 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic" (group 2B), on the basis of limited evidence. The same month, the joint WHO/FAO expert committee (JECFA) confirmed its ADI of 40 mg per kilo.

This is not a contradiction. IARC assesses a hazard: could the substance, under some conditions, cause cancer? JECFA assesses a risk: at what dose, and what amounts are actually consumed? Group 2B covers weak evidence; both bodies called for better studies.

The questions that really remain open

Some colours and children's attention

In 2007, a British double-blind trial (the Southampton study) found slightly higher hyperactivity scores in children after drinks containing a mix of six colours and a preservative. The effect was modest and the study was debated, but Europe reacted: foods containing one of these six colours (E102, E104, E110, E122, E124, E129) must carry the statement "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". Level of evidence: one randomised trial, modest effect.

Emulsifiers and the gut

Emulsifiers (celluloses, mono- and diglycerides, carrageenans…) are everywhere in industrial products. In 2023, a large French study (NutriNet-Santé, more than 95,000 adults followed for seven years) linked a high intake of certain emulsifiers to a higher cardiovascular risk. A small controlled trial in 2022 (16 adults, 11 days) showed that a high dose of carboxymethylcellulose (E466) altered the gut microbiota. Level of evidence: an observational association, which does not prove causation, and a very small trial. The authors themselves call for confirmation studies.

Additive or ultra-processed food?

This is the core difficulty: the most debated additives are found mainly in ultra-processed foods, which are themselves linked to many health problems. It is often impossible to say whether the additive, the rest of the food, or the lifestyle of those who eat a lot of it is to blame.

What to do in practice

  • Don't panic at an E: many are harmless, and some are vitamins.
  • Cut back on ultra-processed foods: it is the simplest way to reduce exposure to the debated additives, and it is advisable anyway.
  • For children, watch out for the colours flagged by the warning statement, especially in sweets and coloured drinks.
  • Cured meats: eating less of them remains the basic advice, nitrites or not.
  • Be wary of alarmist lists that sort additives into "good" and "bad" without considering doses.

In the next articles in this series, we will look one by one at the most debated additives: titanium dioxide, nitrites, sweeteners, emulsifiers, glutamate and colours.

Test yourself

What does the E in a food additive such as E300 mean?

Show the answer

Answer: That it has been assessed and authorised in the European Union

The E indicates a European authorisation; E300 is in fact vitamin C.

What happens if you exceed the acceptable daily intake of a food additive on one day?

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Answer: It is generally not a concern: the ADI applies to average intake over a lifetime, with a wide safety margin

The ADI usually includes a safety factor of 100 and concerns long-term daily intake.

Which food additive has been banned in the European Union since 2022?

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Answer: Titanium dioxide (E171)

EFSA could no longer rule out a genotoxic risk: E171 was banned in 2022.

How many cans of diet soft drink a day would a 70 kg adult need to exceed the acceptable daily intake of aspartame?

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Answer: More than 9 to 14, according to the WHO

The ADI of aspartame (40 mg/kg) was confirmed in 2023, despite its IARC classification as possibly carcinogenic.

Disclaimer

This article is an information summary. It does not replace the advice of a doctor or dietitian, especially in case of allergy, intolerance or digestive disease.

Sources

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