Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS)

The Substances Added to Food inventory replaces what was previously known as Everything Added to Foods in the United States (EAFUS).

The Substances Added to Food inventory includes the following types of ingredients regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• Food additives and color additives that are listed in FDA regulations (21 CFR Parts 172, 173 and Parts 73, 74, 82 respectively), and flavoring substances evaluated by FEMA* and JECFA*.
  • Note that for a substance to be used as a color additive in the US, it must be authorized by a regulation in 21 CFR Part 73, 74, or 82.
• Generally Recognized as Safe (“GRAS”) substances that are listed in FDA regulations (21 CFR Parts 182 and 184).
• Substances approved for specific uses in foods prior to September 6, 1958, known as prior-sanctioned substances (21 CFR Part 181).
• Substances formerly used:
  • Prohibited substances that are listed in FDA regulations (21 CFR Part 189) as prohibited from use in food (labeled as "PROHIBITED" or "PROHIBITED WITH EXCEPTIONS").
  • Delisted color additives in FDA regulations (21 CFR 81.10 and/or 81.30) (labeled as "DELISTED").
  • Some substances "no longer FEMA GRAS"

It is important to note that the inventory is only a partial list of food ingredients. Inclusion in this inventory of information from non-FDA entities does not indicate an FDA approval or evaluation of this use.

Users also have the option to search multiple food ingredient and packaging inventories at one time. This includes the following substances not listed in the Substances Added to Food inventory:

• Most substances listed in the inventory of GRAS Notices.
• Indirect food additives such as packaging adhesives, paperboard, and other food contact substances, unless they are also known to be directly added to food.

For more information, please refer to Food Ingredient and Packaging Inventories.

Search and display hints

• Select the Substance name below to view the additional details about the substance.
• To sort by a specific field, click on the column header for that field.
• To browse the records, use the Show All, First/Previous/Next/Last, and Jump To options at the bottom of the data table.
• To search for a specific term (or phrase or partial word), enter that term in the Search box and select Show Items to display only those records that contain the selected term.
• The search results may include terms not shown on the results pages, but included in the full record descriptions. For example, a search for “gum Arabic” will find the substance “Acacia”.
• The search results will return hits of records containing words that include the search term. For example, a search for the color red will return results that include terms such as reducing, ingredient, and denatured.

*Definitions

• CAS Reg. No. (or other ID): Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) Registry Number® for the substance or a numerical code assigned by CFSAN to those substances that do not have a CAS Registry Number (977nnn-nn-n series).
• Substance: The name of the ingredient as recognized by CFSAN.
• Used for^† (Technical Effect): The physical or technical effect(s) the substance has in or on food; see 21 CFR 170.3(o) for definitions.
• 21 CFR: Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
• FEMA No.: The trade association, Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA), has established expert panels to evaluate and make independent determinations on the GRAS status of flavoring substances. The FEMA number is provided here as a reference to FEMA’s GRAS assessments.
  • NLFG is no longer FEMA GRAS™.
  • For more information about FEMA GRAS, see About the FEMA GRAS™ Program <External Link Disclaimer> .
• JECFA: The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international expert scientific committee that is administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). See JECFA Specifications for Flavourings <External Link Disclaimer>

^†Color Additives

• For a substance to be used as a color additive in the US, it must be authorized by a regulation in 21 CFR Part 73, 74, or 82.