Meat / seafood / vegetable extracts 肉エキス・魚介エキスなど（〇〇エキス）

How it appears on labels

Labeling rules

• On Japanese food labels, these are treated as food ingredients and do not go in the food additive section. The Consumer Affairs Agency's Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards explains that liquid amino acid seasoning “is treated as a food, like meat extract, and additive labeling is not needed.”
• The guideline on labeling of extracts (“エキスの表示に関するガイドライン”, 2023) by the Japan Extract Seasoning Association gives examples where the name is the main raw material plus “エキス”, such as “鶏肉エキス” (chicken extract), “豚骨エキス” (pork bone extract), “かつお節エキス” (dried bonito extract), and “昆布エキス” (kombu extract).
• The same guideline divides extracts into “畜産エキス” (livestock extract) made from livestock products, “水産エキス” (marine extract) made from seafood and seaweed, and “農産エキス” (agricultural extract) made from vegetables and mushrooms. When the label says only “肉エキス” (meat extract), you cannot tell from the label which meat it is.

Good to know

• Allergen labeling (beef, pork, and chicken are allergens recommended for labeling) can sometimes give a clue to which meat it is.
• “麦芽エキス” (malt extract) is an extract taken from malt (sprouted barley). On this site, it is in the curry roux from Sokensha.
• Among the products on this site, these are in curry roux (meat extract and malt extract) and oyster sauce (oyster extract).

Products on this site that contain it

Product pages are in Japanese for now; each one reads every ingredient on the label.

Related pages

• Ingredient: Yeast extract
• Article: Umami seasonings and “化学調味料無添加” (no chemical seasonings)
• Article: Monosodium glutamate (umami seasoning)

Sources

• Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards (revised March 28, 2025) — Consumer Affairs Agency
• Guidelines on labeling of extracts (July 20, 2023) — Japan Extract Seasonings Association

Sources are in Japanese unless noted otherwise. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.

Other ingredients in this group

• Yeast extract
• Dried bonito (katsuobushi) and dried sardines
• Kombu (kelp)
• Shiitake mushroom
• Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein (amino acid liquid)
• Dried shrimp
• Nori (seaweed)