Diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides (DATEM)

Additive · E 472e

DATEM is a mixture made from edible fats, glycerol and tartaric-acid derivatives. It helps oil and water mix and strengthens dough, supporting bread volume and texture. Food labels may call it DATEM or E472e; it is different from diacetyl flavoring.

Also known as

DATEM · diacetyltartaric and fatty acid esters of glycerol · mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids · E 472e · E472e · INS 472e · INS472e

Why PRūF tracks it

DATEM has emerging experimental gut and immune signals and a small observational diabetes association, but these do not establish clinical harm from ordinary food use, and older safety assessments provide important contrary evidence.

Read the research

DATEM helps strengthen bread dough and stabilize mixtures. Its composition varies with the fats and manufacturing process used. Older safety assessments found no established human-relevant genotoxic, cancer or reproductive effects in the available studies. EFSA derived an acceptable daily intake of 600 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, while JECFA uses 50, based on different assessments.

These values are not recommended intakes or measures of how much is in a particular food. EFSA’s 2025 exposure estimates stayed below its value, although some uses lacked data, and it recommended tighter impurity specifications. Newer findings warrant attention: a laboratory microbiota experiment found changes in bacterial density and gene activity, and an August 2026 study found barrier and inflammatory effects in cell models and mice. Human blood-cell experiments in that study were not a trial of people eating DATEM.

A French cohort reported a small diabetes association, which does not establish causation. DATEM-specific cancer findings were not significant. Current evidence leaves uncertainty about long-term gut effects and dietary relevance. US rules still permit specified uses; Texas’s conditional warning-label measure is not a food ban.

Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources