Guide to Food Additives and E Numbers

Food Additives and E Numbers

The capital 'E' in front of the number means that additive has been passed for food use throughout the European Community.

As a general rule, E numbers from:

Not all E Numbers are Artificial

An E number does not always mean 'artificial' - for example, of the 46 permitted food colours, 21 are "natural" - that is they occur in nature and are extracted from vegetable and animal sources.

Of course, the other 25 are "not natural".

Many additives just replace a more expensive ingredient with a cheaper one.

Not all E Numbers are bad for you but enough of them have been banned around the world for us to take note of what we take into our bodies as "food"