Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate is the emulsifier the food industry lists as E482. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100).
- The key finding, from EFSA: Re-evaluation of sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 481) and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 482): ADI of 22 mg/kg bw per day established for E 481/E 482 singly or in combination, from a 1-year rat NOAEL of 2,200 mg/kg bw per day with an uncertainty factor of 100. One opinion, one ADI, both additives, the fact this row's class rests on (10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3144)
- Flagged for young children. Set only where EFSA’s own exposure assessment shows toddlers or children exceeding or approaching the ADI, or where a regulator used explicitly child-specific language. It is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 1 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 4 citations from EFSA and EU law, each one below.
What Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate 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. Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). 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.
-
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3144
Re-evaluation of sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 481) and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 482): ADI of 22 mg/kg bw per day established for E 481/E 482 singly or in combination, from a 1-year rat NOAEL of 2,200 mg/kg bw per day with an uncertainty factor of 100. One opinion, one ADI, both additives — the fact this row's class rests on. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3144 (exposure conclusion)
Verbatim: exposure 'is below the ADI of 22 mg/kg bw/day for all the adult population including the elderly, but exceeds the ADI for other groups of the population at mean level and for all groups of the population at high level' — i.e. children exceed at the mean. The figure behind it is a COMBINED SSL+CSL exposure of 28-81 mg/kg bw/day for children at the mean; it is not an E 482-only estimate. Main sources: flavoured fermented milk products, bread and rolls, fine bakery wares. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3125
Companion EFSA statement on the exposure assessment of SSL/CSL (including the extension of authorisation), reporting high-level toddler and child intake estimates well above the 22 mg/kg bw per day ADI. -
EU law
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 Annex II, consolidated text 02008R1333 — EN — 09.11.2025 (incorporating Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2058; EUR-Lex ELI: reg/2008/1333)
E 482 calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate is authorised in the EU under Annex II alongside E 481, with maximum levels by food category — the sibling authorisation that makes E 482 a direct substitute manufacturers can switch to for E 481, and the reason the two are classified consistently as a family.
Why this class
IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.
Our confidence in this row's classification is medium. 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 Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E482) safe for kids?
High risk. In Sito it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). It is flagged for young children, and it is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher. The finding we rely on: Re-evaluation of sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 481) and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E 482): ADI of 22 mg/kg bw per day established for E 481/E 482 singly or in combination, from a 1-year rat NOAEL of 2,200 mg/kg bw per day with an uncertainty factor of 100. One opinion, one ADI, both additives, the fact this row's class rests on (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3144).
What is E482?
E482 is the E number for Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, an emulsifier. Open Food Facts tags it en:e482.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E482 in our table, then the closest emulsifiers by number.
- Sucroglycerides (E474), high risk, flagged for young children
- Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (E475), no risk identified
- PGPR (E476), no risk identified
- propylene glycol esters (E477), no risk identified
- Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E481), high risk, flagged for young children
- Sorbitan monostearate (E491), no risk identified