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E315AntioxidantLow concern
Erythorbic Acid
In plain words
The short version
The D-stereoisomer of vitamin C — same antioxidant function, ~5% of vitamin activity.
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
JECFA (1990) allocated an ADI "not specified". In the EU, an ADI of 6 mg/kg body weight per day applies; EFSA's 2016 re-evaluation saw no reason to revise it and found no safety concern at the permitted or reported use levels. Rapidly excreted; does not contribute significantly to vitamin-C status.
The detail
First produced industrially in the 1930s from the same family of synthetic routes as ascorbic acid, but starting from D-glucose. Less expensive than L-ascorbic acid but with only ~1/20 the vitamin-C biological activity (the L-stereoisomer is the bioactive vitamin).
Used as a cost-effective antioxidant where the vitamin-C value of the product is not the labeling claim — cured meats (nitrosamine inhibition), canned vegetables, frozen fish. Identical chemical antioxidant function to ascorbic acid at lower cost.
White to slightly yellow crystalline powder. Very soluble in water. Mild acidic taste. Light-sensitive in solution.
Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in the US. In the EU it is authorised only in cured and preserved meat products (up to 500 mg/kg) and certain fish products — frozen fish with red skin and preserved or semi-preserved fish products (up to 1,500 mg/kg) — with limits expressed as erythorbic acid. Cannot be declared as vitamin C — must use the specific name 'erythorbic acid' or its E-number.
Sources
- EFSA ANS Panel — Re-evaluation of erythorbic acid (E 315) and sodium erythorbate (E 316) as food additives (2016) — European Food Safety Authority (EFSA Journal 14(1):4360), 2016. safety: EU ADI of 6 mg/kg bw/day maintained
- JECFA — Erythorbic acid (INS 315), evaluation 1990 — WHO / Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, 1990. safety: JECFA ADI not specified
- 21 CFR 182.3041 — Erythorbic acid (GRAS chemical preservative) — US eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), 2026. regulation: GRAS in the US
- Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, Annex II (consolidated text of 18.08.2026) — conditions of use for E 315 — EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union, 2026. regulation: EU authorises E 315 only in meat and some fish products
Checked against these sources on .
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