Food additive databasebittering agentChecked 2026-10-02
Caffeine (Extract) カフェイン（抽出物）
Existing food additiveNot on the EU additive list
- Purpose
- bittering agent
- On the label
- “苦味料” (bittering agent), “カフェイン” (caffeine), “カフェイン（抽出物）” (caffeine (extract))
- Name in the List of Existing Food Additives
- カフェイン（抽出物） (No. 58)
- Source and production
- Obtained from the seeds of plants of the genus Coffea or the leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), with caffeine as the main component. Caffeine content is 98.5% or more on a dry basis (specifications and standards).
In Japan
- Caffeine obtained from coffee seeds or tea leaves. Its purpose in the list of existing food additives is bittering agent and the like. The simplified name is “カフェイン” (caffeine).
- When used as a bittering agent, it can be written simply with the group name “苦味料” (bittering agent) (CAA group name range: additives whose purpose column is “bittering agent and the like”). There are no standards for use.
Japan's standards for use
There are no standards for use that limit which foods or how much (the general standards for all additives still apply).
This is a summary of the standards for use. See the source list for the exact conditions.
In the EU
- It is not on the EU list of food additives (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II), so it cannot be used as a food additive in the EU.
- Caffeine is listed as FL 16.016 in the Union list of flavouring substances (Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, Annex I). When used as a flavoring, there are upper limits by food category (70 mg/kg in categories 1 and 3, 100 mg/kg in category 5, and 150 mg/kg in category 14.1).
Sources
- List of Existing Food Additives — Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation (Japanese)
- Standards for use and storage of each additive — Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation (Japanese)
- EU food additive database (Japanese translation) — MAFF (Japanese)
- Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives — EUR-Lex
- 日本食品化学研究振興財団「既存添加物名簿収載品目リスト」（令和7年8月25日現在） (Japanese)
- 第10版 食品添加物公定書（2024年、厚生労働省・消費者庁）成分規格の定義 (Japanese)
- 消費者庁「食品表示基準について」別添 添加物関係（簡略名・用途名併記・一括名・栄養強化の範囲） (Japanese)
Checked 2026-10-02. Rules and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.
This page lists facts stated in laws and in evaluations by public bodies; it is not a safety verdict. Additives used in Japan are approved by the government, which sets the foods and amounts they can be used in. The ADI is a guide to the amount that is considered safe to take every day over a lifetime.