Butane is the additive the food industry lists as E943a. In our table it is no risk identified: it takes no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: Butane, isobutane and propane are of low toxicological concern when used as food additives, with very low dietary exposure; 1,3-butadiene capped at ≤0.1% v/v in EU specifications (EFSA Journal 2025;23(1):9203, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9203)
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. None of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts list it. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 2 citations from EFSA and EU law, each one below.
What Butane does to a score
A packaged food's additive subscore starts at 100 and loses points for each additive on the label; that subscore is a third of the final score. Butane takes no points off a product's score. Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.
See what is in your own cupboard
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
What the sources found
Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. Each finding is our one-line summary of what the source concluded, with the source and reference beside it.
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EFSA
Journal 2025;23(1):9203 — doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9203
Butane, isobutane and propane are of low toxicological concern when used as food additives, with very low dietary exposure; 1,3-butadiene capped at ≤0.1% v/v in EU specifications. -
EU law
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/874
Authorised as a propellant in vegetable oil pan spray (professional use only), water-based emulsion spray, and colour preparations at ≤1 mg/kg in food.
Why this class
Clean current EFSA and FDA status. These rows exist so that an unfamiliar additive is never treated as a bad one: a missing row costs a product nothing, and a clean row says so with citations.
Our confidence in this row's classification is high. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.
Questions parents ask
Is Butane (E943a) safe for kids?
No risk identified. No regulator finding we score, so a product keeps its full additive subscore in Sito. The current status is clean: Butane, isobutane and propane are of low toxicological concern when used as food additives, with very low dietary exposure; 1,3-butadiene capped at ≤0.1% v/v in EU specifications (EFSA Journal 2025;23(1):9203, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9203).
What is E943a?
E943a is the E number for Butane, an additive. Open Food Facts tags it en:e943a.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E943a in our table, then the closest additives of the same kind by number.
- Chlorine dioxide (E926), no risk identified
- Azodicarbonamide and carbamide (E927), low risk, flagged for young children
- Azodicarbonamide (E927a), low risk, flagged for young children
- urea (E927b), no risk identified
- Calcium peroxide (E930), no risk identified
- Propane (E944), no risk identified