What is E1501?

Complete guide to understanding benzylated hydrocarbons in your food

The Quick Answer

E1501 is benzylated hydrocarbons, a group of aromatic compounds used as flavoring substances in food.

It’s used to impart fruity and floral notes to processed foods, beverages, and flavoring products.

Benzylated hydrocarbons are natural compounds found in many plants and fruits, though commercial versions are typically synthetically produced.

What Exactly Is It?

E1501 is a group of related aromatic compounds containing benzyl groups—not a single substance.

The name comes from its chemistry: “benzyl” refers to a benzene ring with an attached methyl group, and “hydrocarbons” describes organic compounds made of hydrogen and carbon.

E1501 encompasses multiple related compounds, including:

• Benzyl alcohol (C₆H₅CH₂OH)
• Benzaldehyde (C₆H₅CHO)
• Benzyl acetate (C₆H₅CH₂OCOCH₃)
• Other related benzyl derivatives

These compounds occur naturally in ripe fruits (apples, peaches, berries), flowers, and fermented products—contributing to their natural fruity and floral aromas.

Commercial versions are typically synthesized in laboratories for consistency and cost-effectiveness.

Where You’ll Find It

E1501 (benzylated hydrocarbons) appears in:

• Fruit flavorings and flavor extracts
• Flavored beverages and soft drinks
• Candy and confectionery
• Baked goods and pastries
• Yogurt and dairy flavoring
• Chewing gum and gum bases
• Commercial flavor compounds used by food manufacturers

Like other flavorings, E1501 is used in small quantities for its intense aromatic properties.

It appears rarely as a direct consumer food additive—mostly in the flavor supply chain used by food manufacturers.

Why Do Food Companies Use It?

E1501 serves one primary function: add natural-tasting fruity and floral notes to foods.

In flavoring: Benzyl compounds are key odorant molecules in many fruits and flowers. By adding them to foods, manufacturers recreate natural fruit flavors—from strawberry to peach to apple—that consumers recognize and enjoy.

Why use it instead of alternatives: These compounds are highly potent (requiring tiny amounts), naturally occurring in traditional foods at higher levels than added amounts, rapidly metabolized and excreted, and widely recognized as safe after decades of use.

Self-limiting properties: An important characteristic is that benzyl compounds have “self-limiting” sensory properties—people naturally stop consuming them at safe levels because they taste overwhelming in excess, preventing accidental overconsumption.

Without E1501, creating fruit flavorings that taste authentic and appeal to consumers would require significantly more complex formulations or synthetic alternatives.

Is It Safe?

E1501 (benzylated hydrocarbons) is recognized as safe by international authorities.

The FEMA (Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association) Expert Panel has reaffirmed the group of benzyl derivatives as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe).

Important regulatory note: E1501 is not formally approved as an E-number in the European Union—making it an unapproved E-number. However, this reflects procedural status rather than safety concerns.

Safety evidence:

• Long-term toxicology studies in animal models at high doses show wide margins of safety.
• Rapid absorption, metabolic detoxification, and excretion in humans and animals.
• Low flavor-use levels create huge safety margins compared to no-observed-adverse effect levels (NOAEL).
• No significant genotoxic (DNA-damaging) or mutagenic (mutation-causing) potential.
• Natural intake of benzyl compounds from traditional foods (fruits, fermented foods) often exceeds intake from added flavoring.

Natural vs Synthetic Version

E1501 benzylated hydrocarbons are primarily synthetic, though they also occur naturally.

Natural version: Naturally present in significant amounts in ripe fruits, flowers, and fermented foods like wine, beer, and aged cheese. People consume these naturally-occurring benzyl compounds regularly without noticing.

Synthetic version: Chemically manufactured in laboratories from petroleum or natural feedstocks through chemical synthesis. Synthetic and natural versions are chemically identical—your body processes them the same way.

Synthetic production is significantly cheaper and more reliable for commercial food flavoring use.

Natural Alternatives

Want to avoid E1501?

For fruity flavoring, companies sometimes use:

• Fruit juice concentrates: More expensive and variable in flavor profile
• Essential oils: More expensive, different taste characteristics
• Water-based fruit extracts: Less concentrated and stable
• Whole fruit ingredients: Limited shelf-life and availability
• Individual benzyl compounds from GRAS natural sources: More expensive than synthetic blends

These alternatives work but are typically more expensive, less stable, or less potent.

So E1501 remains widely used in the flavor industry for cost and performance reasons.

The Bottom Line

E1501 is a group of natural aromatic compounds used to create fruity and floral flavors in processed foods.

These compounds occur naturally in fruits and are present at higher levels in traditional fermented foods than in commercially-flavored products.

The FEMA Expert Panel recognizes them as GRAS (safe), though the EU has not formally authorized the E1501 designation.

Safety studies show wide margins of safety, and actual human exposure from food is low due to their self-limiting sensory properties.

Your body rapidly metabolizes benzyl compounds into common products without accumulation.

If you prefer to minimize synthetic flavorings, choosing foods flavored with real fruit juice or whole ingredients can reduce your exposure to E1501—though you won’t completely eliminate the naturally-occurring versions.