The European Union has been responsible for many schemes of varying success. Frequently the schemes are attempting to standardise some method of doing something across the whole of the community, so that everyone knows what the other countries mean. This has often been ridiculed, particularly by the British tabloid press, when for instance some definition is proposed for what can be marketed as a sausage, or ice-cream. How foolish to expect that a sausage should consist mostly of meat, or ice-cream actually have cream as a principal ingredient!

One thrust of European policy has been to allow consumers to know the ingredients of what they are buying. This allows informed choices to be made, for instance avoidance of products which contain something the consumer is allergic to. E-numbers were a sensible method of concisely stating additives accepted as safe, while avoiding the issue of the range of languages used in Europe.

E numbers were first introduced in Europe to help regulate the use of food additives, but are now used world-wide after the scheme was adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Committee¹. Each number specifies a particular additive, but only ones permitted in Europe need to be prefixed by an 'E'. Additive 103 Alkanet⁴ isn't permitted in the EU, but is in Australia and New Zealand.

What are food additives?

Before describing what E-numbers are it would be useful to know exactly what a food additive is. European legislation laid down in the Council Directive of 21 December 1988 on 'the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning food additives authorized for use in foodstuffs intended for human consumption'
(89/107/EEC) [pdf] states that:

For the purposes of this Directive 'food additive' means any
substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of such food results, or may be reasonably expected to result, in it or its by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods.⁵

Food additives have been used for centuries to assist in flavouring, colouring or preserving food. For instance using vinegar to pickle food, salt and sugar to flavour and preserve. Up until the twentieth century there were relatively few of these additives, but during the last hundred years there has been a massive increase in the use of additives of both natural and artificial origin.

It is worth noting that although many of the E-number additives are artificially produced, there are quite a few natural ones refined from various sources. The natural additives include several that vegetarians might wish to avoid (as they may be, or definitely are, derived from animals), for instance E441 Gelatine⁶ or E120 Cochineal⁷. It has been estimated that there are now over 2500 food additives in use around the world and about one hundred more being proposed every year.

What are E-numbers?

E-numbers are used to indicate permitted food additives in the European Union. The numbers start with E100 (Turmeric, a colouring) and currently go up to E1520 (Propylene glycol, a humectant⁸). Although the numbers go this high there are numerous gaps, and there are only between 300 and 400 E-numbers specified in total. Each number specifies a particular additive, with blocks of numbers allocated to categories of additives with particular purposes.

The table below covers most of the larger groups of additive functions and their numbers, and must be read with the caveat 'lie mostly between'

There is another European inspired 'e' often seen on packaging, and associated with a number. This is the lower case e that appears after the volume or weight. It is the e mark, and has nothing to do with additives.

What are permitted additives?

Food additives are only permitted if they are deemed safe, and perform useful functions (and many additives frequently have more than one function) of which there are about thirty main functions - from acidity regulators to thickeners - not all of which legally require the additive to be specified on labels or possess an E number. For instance many flavours do not require an E-number.

Each additive is expected to be of a standard composition, and to this end JECFA⁹ provide specifications for every additive. It should be stressed that rigorous tests are carried out before an additive is passed as permitted for use in food, including the calculation of the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) - the amount of the additive that could be consumed safely each day throughout your life. This is usually done by finding the level at which no effect is observed and then dividing by a safety factor of typically 100. The purpose of the safety factor is to provide additional security in case some people are more sensitive than others.

Why are there less E-numbers on packaging than there used to be?

It isn't generally because there are less additives, but more that because there has been a backlash against certain additives that have proved troublesome for some people. Most well-known is Tartrazine (E102) which has been linked to hyperactive disorders in some children. This bad press has tarnished the whole culture of concise E-number labelling.

While it is true that a small market has been created for products (with a premium cost due to their shorter shelf-life) which are now 'additive free', other products avoid the negative connotations of the E-number, and simply give the full name of the additive. There is no doubt in many people's minds that the change in dietary habits in the second half of the twentieth century has had dramatic effects on people's physical and mental health. These changes, particularly in the developed world, have included a move toward far greater reliance on processed and pre-packaged food, which have relied heavily on a proliferation in the use of additives often used to ensure the food has a long and attractive shelf-life. Whether the additives are themselves good for consumers is far from certain.

Further Information

For more information on what E-numbers are, and what they are supposed to do, and what the possible downside of consuming them might be can be found from several websites.

• List of E-numbers - one good fairly unbiased site detailing E-numbers
• Food Additives and Ingredients Association - 'pro' food additive site
• York College Hospitality and Catering Dept - 'anti' food additive site

But as with any information garnered from the net some of the assertions made should be taken with a pinch of salt (E251).