Propylene glycol
Propylene glycol, also called propane-1,2-diol or E 1520, is used differently by region: the United States allows direct food use under good manufacturing practice with category-specific maximum levels, while the European Union generally treats E 1520 as an Annex III carrier or additive in additives, flavourings, enzymes, and nutrients, with carry-over limits in finished foods and beverages. Toxicology reviews do not show a strong genotoxicity, cancer, reproductive, or developmental signal at permitted food-use levels. The main biological signal is red-blood-cell damage seen in high-dose animal studies, especially dog and cat studies at gram-per-kilogram doses, while rat chronic studies used for the acceptable daily intake did not show adverse effects up to 2,500 mg/kg bw/day. EFSA kept the acceptable daily intake at 25 mg/kg bw/day and estimated high consumers below, but in some child scenarios close to, that level. Codex has requested an updated safety and exposure assessment for carrier use, including flavored beverages. For ordinary consumers, the concern is therefore limited and exposure-related rather than a demonstrated human food-use toxicity.
- Concern
- Limited
- Function
- Other
- Updated
- May 25, 2026
What this is
Propylene glycol, also called propane-1,2-diol or E 1520, is used differently by region: the United States allows direct food use under good manufacturing practice with category-specific maximum levels, while the European Union generally treats E 1520 as an Annex III carrier or additive in additives, flavourings, enzymes, and nutrients, with carry-over limits in finished foods and beverages. Toxicology reviews do not show a strong genotoxicity, cancer, reproductive, or developmental signal at permitted food-use levels. The main biological signal is red-blood-cell damage seen in high-dose animal studies, especially dog and cat studies at gram-per-kilogram doses, while rat chronic studies used for the acceptable daily intake did not show adverse effects up to 2,500 mg/kg bw/day. EFSA kept the acceptable daily intake at 25 mg/kg bw/day and estimated high consumers below, but in some child scenarios close to, that level. Codex has requested an updated safety and exposure assessment for carrier use, including flavored beverages. For ordinary consumers, the concern is therefore limited and exposure-related rather than a demonstrated human food-use toxicity.
Safety Review
The critical endpoints experts review in safety assessments. This is not a prediction of harm.
Agency reviews describe propylene glycol as readily absorbed and relatively low in acute oral toxicity, and EFSA found no reason to revise the 25 mg/kg bw/day acceptable daily intake. The clearest biological concern is red-blood-cell damage seen in high-dose animal studies, including dog findings at 5,000 mg/kg bw/day and species-sensitive cat data; this evidence does not translate into proven harm from permitted human food uses. EFSA’s refined food-additive exposure estimates stayed below the acceptable daily intake, but some high-child-consumption scenarios approached it, and Codex has requested an updated safety and exposure assessment for carrier use in foods and flavored beverages. Overall, the concern is limited, exposure-related, and partly about keeping combined intake from multiple additive sources within safety margins.
No safety review endpoints are listed for this ingredient yet.
Restaurant Usage
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