Food additive databasethickener / stabilizer, processing agentChecked 2026-10-02
Curdlan カードラン
Existing food additiveNot on the EU additive list
- Purpose
- thickener / stabilizer, processing agent
- On the label
- “カードラン” (curdlan), “ブドウ糖多糖” (glucose polysaccharide), “ゲル化剤（カードラン）” (gelling agent (curdlan)), “増粘剤（カードラン）” (thickener (curdlan)), “増粘多糖類” (thickening polysaccharides)
- Name in the List of Existing Food Additives
- カードラン (No. 57)
- Source and production
- Obtained from the culture solution of Agrobacterium or Alcaligenes; the main component is β-1,3-glucan (definition in the list). In the component specifications, it is described as obtained from the culture solution of bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium or Rhizobium.
In Japan
- On the List of Existing Food Additives (list of listed items), its purposes are thickening stabilizer and processing agent. The simplified name is “ブドウ糖多糖” (glucose polysaccharide).
- When used for thickening, stabilizing, or gelling, it is written together with the purpose name, as in “ゲル化剤（カードラン）” (gelling agent (curdlan)). When two or more polysaccharides classed as thickening stabilizers are used, they can be labeled together as “増粘多糖類” (thickening polysaccharides), and because that name contains the characters “増粘” (thickening), the purpose name can be omitted.
- 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.
When it is labeled under a shared name
Curdlan may be declared on the label in the same way as “増粘剤・安定剤・ゲル化剤”. See Thickener / stabilizer / gelling agent for details.
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
- 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・保存基準各条（定義・含量） (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、既存添加物名簿収載品目リスト） (Japanese)
- 消費者庁「食品表示基準について」（通知 本体：既存添加物の物質名・増粘多糖類・栄養強化の範囲） (Japanese)
- 食品表示基準（平成27年内閣府令第10号）第3条（加工助剤の定義、「色」「増粘」の文字を含む場合の用途名の省略）（e-Gov 法令検索） (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.