Potassium Nitrate 硝酸カリウム

In Japan

• Used as a color fixative in meat products and whale meat bacon, and to regulate fermentation (fermentation regulator) in making cheese and sake. For meat products, the upper limit is set not on the amount used but on the amount remaining as nitrite ion.
• When used as a color fixative, it must be written together with the purpose name, as in “発色剤（硝酸K）” (color fixative (potassium nitrate, abbreviated)). The abbreviated name is “硝酸K” (potassium nitrate, abbreviated).

Japan's standards for use

• Meat products, whale meat bacon: maximum residue as nitrite ion of less than 0.070 g/kg
• Cheese: 0.20 g per liter of milk used as raw material
• Sake: 0.10 g per liter of sake starter (shubo)
• Same standards as sodium nitrate

This is a summary of the standards for use. See the source list for the exact conditions.

In the EU

• It is on the EU list of food additives (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex II) as E252.
• In its 2017 evaluation, EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) set an ADI (acceptable daily intake) of 3.7mg per kg of body weight per day (EFSA ANS).

When it is labeled under a shared name

Potassium Nitrate may be declared on the label in the same way as “発色剤（亜硝酸Na）”. See Color fixative (sodium nitrite) 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
• EFSA OpenFoodTox (chemical hazards database)
• 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.

Other substances used as color fixative, fermentation aid

• Sodium Nitrate