Sodium erythorbate

What this is

Sodium erythorbate, also called sodium isoascorbate or E316, is the sodium salt of erythorbic acid, a stereoisomer of vitamin C. Regulators treat it primarily as an antioxidant: it slows oxidative color and flavor changes and, in cured meat, helps nitrite form the cured color more quickly. FDA’s food-substance inventory lists several technical effects, and U.S. meat rules, Canadian additive lists, EU rules, and Codex provisions permit it only in specified uses or under good manufacturing practice. The toxicology profile is mostly reassuring: JECFA set an ADI “not specified,” and EFSA kept the EU ADI at 6 mg/kg body weight/day after finding low acute toxicity, no genotoxicity concern, no carcinogenicity concern, and estimated dietary exposure below the ADI. The remaining concern is limited: one older high-dose rat study reported promotion of bladder lesions after the animals had already been exposed to a bladder carcinogen, EFSA noted missing reproductive and chronic toxicity studies and a possible issue for people with iron-overload disorders, and a 2026 observational study linked sodium erythorbate intake with higher cancer incidence. Those findings do not prove harm at ordinary food-use levels, especially because cured and processed-food patterns are hard to separate from the additive itself.

Safety Review

The health areas reviewed when evaluating an ingredient. This does not mean the ingredient is proven to cause harm.

EFSA and JECFA reviewed erythorbic acid and sodium erythorbate as food additives and found low acute toxicity, no genotoxicity concern, no carcinogenicity concern, and exposure estimates below EFSA’s ADI. The cancer-related uncertainty is limited: one older high-dose rat study reported promotion of bladder lesions after prior exposure to a bladder carcinogen, while a separate rat bioassay found no carcinogenicity. EFSA still noted boundaries, including limitations in older studies, missing reproductive and chronic toxicity studies, and a possible issue for people with iron-overload disorders because erythorbate can increase iron absorption. A 2026 cohort study reported associations between sodium erythorbate intake and cancer incidence, but observational evidence cannot cleanly separate the additive from cured-meat and broader processed-food patterns.

No additional safety information is available for this ingredient yet.