What is E475?

Complete guide to understanding E475 (Polyglycerol Esters of Fatty Acids) in your food

The Quick Answer

E475 is a food emulsifier made from polyglycerol (a modified form of glycerol) combined with fatty acids.

It’s used in food to blend ingredients that don’t naturally mix, improve texture, and stabilize products.

It’s particularly valued in baking, ice cream, and margarine for creating light, fluffy textures.

What Exactly Is It?

E475 is made by combining polyglycerol with natural or plant-based fatty acids.

Polyglycerol is created by adding extra glycerol molecules to normal glycerol, creating a more complex molecular structure. When combined with fatty acids—typically derived from soybean oil, palm oil, or other plant sources—it becomes an emulsifier.

In technical terms, it’s a non-ionic surfactant and synthetic emulsifier, though it can be made from natural starting materials.

The body metabolizes it the same way it processes regular dietary fats, breaking it down into glycerol and fatty acids during digestion.

Where You’ll Find It

E475 appears in a wide variety of processed foods:

• Sponge cake, bread, and bakery products
• Pastries, biscuits, and cookies
• Ice cream and frozen desserts
• Margarine and butter spreads
• Milk and cream mixtures
• Chocolate and confectionery
• Sausages and processed meats
• Breakfast cereals (especially granola)
• Marmalade and spreads
• Dietary and supplement products

It’s one of the most frequently used emulsifiers in baked goods, particularly in commercial cakes and breads.

Most people who regularly consume processed baked goods or ice cream have eaten E475 multiple times.

Why Do Food Companies Use It?

E475’s primary role is emulsification and as an aerating agent, creating light, fluffy textures in baked goods.

E475 provides multiple benefits that make it invaluable to food manufacturers:

• Aeration: Creates tiny air bubbles in cake batters, producing finer crumb structure and greater volume
• Texture improvement: Makes cakes softer, fluffier, and more luxurious
• Fat stabilization: Prevents oil and water from separating in margarine, dressings, and sauces
• Extended shelf life: Helps bread stay fresh longer by slowing moisture loss and staling
• Dough conditioning: Improves how dough behaves during mixing and processing
• Improved mouthfeel: Makes ice cream creamier and frozen products smoother
• Crystal prevention: Prevents unwanted ice crystal formation in frozen products
• Cost efficiency: Relatively inexpensive compared to some alternative emulsifiers

Without E475, commercial cakes would be denser and drier, ice cream would crystallize, and many spreads would separate into their oil and water components.

Is It Safe?

E475 is recognized as safe by major regulatory authorities.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) re-evaluated E475 in 2017 and established an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 25 mg/kg body weight per day.

For a person weighing 70 kg (154 lbs), this means you could safely consume approximately 1,750 mg of E475 per day—far exceeding what most people would consume from normal food intake.

Safety considerations:

• The FDA lists E475 as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)
• The EFSA concluded that E475 poses no safety concern at approved usage levels
• The body metabolizes it identically to natural fats
• Maximum permitted levels vary by food category (ranging from 1-10 grams per kilogram)
• Regular safety monitoring continues with periodic re-evaluation

The 2022 EFSA follow-up assessment noted recommendations for lowering maximum limits of certain undesirable impurities (like arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium) to better align with actual commercial product levels, reflecting the agency’s ongoing commitment to safety.

Natural vs Synthetic Version

E475 is synthesized rather than extracted directly from nature:

Origin of ingredients: While fatty acids can come from natural sources like soybean oil, polyglycerol is a modified form of glycerol created through chemical synthesis.

Synthetic process: Polyglycerol and fatty acids are chemically bonded in a controlled manufacturing process to create the emulsifier.

Natural components, synthetic result: Although the starting materials can be natural, the final product E475 is synthesized—there is no “natural” E475 found directly in nature.

Most modern producers use vegetable oil-based fatty acids rather than animal fats to meet consumer preferences and dietary restrictions.

Natural Alternatives

Want to avoid E475 or prefer other emulsifiers?

Food companies sometimes use these alternatives:

• Lecithin (E322) – From soybeans or eggs; more expensive but increasingly available
• Mono- and diglycerides (E471) – Similar function, slightly different properties
• Sucrose esters (E473) – Another emulsifier with similar applications
• Sorbitan esters (E491-E495) – Different class of emulsifiers
• Natural gums (guar gum, xanthan gum) – Plant-based thickeners and stabilizers
• Eggs – Traditional emulsifier in some baked goods and desserts

These alternatives often cost significantly more, which is why E475 remains popular in mass-market products. However, they are becoming more common in premium and specialty food products.

The Bottom Line

E475 (polyglycerol esters of fatty acids) is one of the most widely used food emulsifiers, particularly valued for its aerating and texture-improving properties in baked goods.

It’s found in most commercial cakes, breads, ice cream, and margarine products.

Regulatory bodies including the FDA and EFSA have determined it’s safe for consumption at approved use levels based on decades of use and thorough scientific evaluation.

While it’s a synthetic additive, the body processes it identically to natural fats, and the amount consumed from food is well below what regulatory agencies consider harmful.

Understanding food ingredients helps you make informed choices—whether you want to minimize additives or simply know what you’re eating.