Back to catalogSafety
E263AcidulantLow concern
Calcium Acetate
In plain words
The short version
A buffering and firming salt — also used clinically to bind dietary phosphate in kidney disease.
Why it's green
It's widely considered safe at the amounts used in food, so we mark it green. The Safety section below has the details.
Safety profile
ADI not specified — generally recognized as safe at food levels. The phosphate-binding mechanism that makes it clinically useful is a feature, not a hazard at dietary levels. Excess calcium intake (mainly from supplements) is the only practical concern.
The detail
Produced by neutralizing acetic acid (E260) with calcium carbonate or calcium hydroxide. Crystallizes as the monohydrate. Long history as a food and pharmaceutical-grade salt.
Used as a pH buffer and firming salt in bakery products, candies, and pickled vegetables. Outside food, it is the active ingredient in several prescription phosphate binders for chronic kidney disease — calcium ions form insoluble calcium phosphate in the gut, blocking phosphate absorption.
White crystalline powder, very soluble in water with mildly acetic odor. Buffers around pH 5–6.
Permitted in the EU at quantum satis as a Group I additive. In the US it is GRAS, with maximum use levels by food category, for example 0.2% in baked goods, 0.02% in cheese and 0.0001% in foods not otherwise listed.
Sources
- WHO JECFA database — Calcium acetate (INS 263) — Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), 1973. Safety: ADI not limited (equivalent to 'not specified')
- 21 CFR 184.1185 — Calcium acetate (GRAS), eCFR — U.S. FDA / eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), 1982. Regulation: US GRAS with category maximum levels; production from acetic acid
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1129/2011 — Union list of food additives, Annex II Part C Group I — European Commission / Official Journal of the EU (L 295, 12.11.2011), 2011. Regulation: EU Group I additive at quantum satis
Checked against these sources on .
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