Food additive databasedisinfectantChecked 2026-10-02
Chlorous Acid Water 亜塩素酸水
Designated additiveNot on the EU additive list
- Purpose
- disinfectant
- On the label
- “亜塩素酸水” (chlorous acid water) (not labeled when it counts as a processing aid, because it is decomposed or removed before the final food is completed)
- Name in the List of Designated Additives
- 亜塩素酸水 (No. 2)
In Japan
- A sanitizer. The Japanese Standards of Food Additives define it as an aqueous solution obtained by adding sulfuric acid to an electrolyzed aqueous solution made by adding hydrochloric acid to a saturated sodium chloride solution, then reacting the resulting chloric acid with hydrogen peroxide solution; it contains 4.0 to 6.0% chlorous acid.
- Under the standards for use, the foods it can be used in are limited to polished rice, beans, vegetables (excluding mushrooms), fruit, seaweed, fresh fish and shellfish, meat, meat products, whale meat products, and preserved forms of these, and it must be decomposed or removed before the final food is completed. A substance that is removed before the food is completed is exempt from labeling as a “processing aid”.
Japan's standards for use
- May be used only in polished rice, beans, vegetables (excluding mushrooms), fruit, seaweed, fresh fish and shellfish (including whale meat), meat, meat products, and whale meat products, and preserved forms of these (preserved by salting, drying, and so on)
- Soaking solution or spray solution: up to 0.40 g/kg
- Must be decomposed or removed before the final food is completed
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.
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
- 厚生労働省「第10版食品添加物公定書」D 成分規格・保存基準各条 (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.