Food additive databasepreservativeChecked 2026-10-02
Calcium Sorbate ソルビン酸カルシウム
Designated additiveNot on the EU additive list
- Purpose
- preservative
- On the label
- “保存料（ソルビン酸Ca）” (preservative (calcium sorbate)), “保存料（ソルビン酸カルシウム）” (preservative (calcium sorbate)), “保存料（ソルビン酸（K、Ca））” (preservative (sorbic acid (K, Ca)))
- Name in the List of Designated Additives
- ソルビン酸カルシウム (No. 245)
In Japan
- The calcium salt of sorbic acid, a preservative that suppresses the growth of microorganisms. It follows the same standards for use as sorbic acid and potassium sorbate, which set the foods it can be used in and the amounts (as sorbic acid).
- Because it is a preservative, it is written together with the purpose name, as in “保存料（ソルビン酸Ca）” (preservative (calcium sorbate)). When used together with potassium sorbate, the two can be written together as “ソルビン酸（K、Ca）” (sorbic acid (K, Ca)) (CAA, Attachment to the Food Labeling Standards guidance).
Japan's standards for use
- Cheese: up to 3.0 g/kg as sorbic acid
- Sea urchin, fish paste products (excluding fish surimi), whale meat products, meat products: up to 2.0 g/kg
- Smoked squid products, smoked octopus products: up to 1.5 g/kg
- Bean paste products (an), pickles (lees-pickled, koji-pickled, salt-pickled, soy sauce-pickled and miso-pickled), jam, syrup, tsukudani, boiled beans, margarine, miso, etc.: up to 1.0 g/kg
- Ketchup, vinegar-pickled pickles, soups (excluding potage soups), sauces for dipping (tare), noodle broths (tsuyu), dried plums: up to 0.50 g/kg
- Amazake (to be diluted 3 times or more before drinking), fermented milk (as a raw material for lactic acid bacteria beverages): up to 0.30 g/kg; fruit wine and other alcoholic beverages (zasshu): up to 0.20 g/kg; lactic acid bacteria beverages (excluding sterilized ones): up to 0.050 g/kg
- Fruit paste and fruit juice used in making confectionery: up to 1.0 g/kg (limited to potassium sorbate and calcium sorbate)
- When used with propionic acids in cheese, the total of the amount as sorbic acid and the amount as propionic acid must be up to 3.0 g/kg, and others
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.
- In the EU, it was formerly permitted as E203. In its 2015 re-evaluation, EFSA said its safety could not be confirmed because genotoxicity data were lacking, and that it should be removed from the group ADI of sorbic acid and potassium sorbate. As a result, it was deleted from the EU list of food additives in 2018 (Regulation 2018/98).
When it is labeled under a shared name
Calcium Sorbate may be declared on the label in the same way as “ソルビン酸・ソルビン酸K”. See Sorbic acid / potassium sorbate (preservative) for details.
Sources
- List of Designated 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
- 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)
- EFSA ANS Panel (2015) Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of sorbic acid (E 200), potassium sorbate (E 202) and calcium sorbate (E 203) as food additives. EFSA Journal 13(6):4144 (Japanese)
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/98（ソルビン酸カルシウム E 203 の削除） (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.