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Glutamic acid (E620)

Table v1.3 (data as of 14 Aug 2026), page updated 26 Sep 2026

Glutamic acid is the flavor enhancer the food industry lists as E620. 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).

In short
  • The key finding, from EFSA: Group ADI of 30 mg/kg bw/day expressed as glutamic acid for E 620 to 625, i.e. E 620 is the substance the group ADI is expressed in terms of, derived from a NOAEL of 3,200 mg MSG/kg bw/day in a neurodevelopmental toxicity study with a default 100-fold uncertainty factor (EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4910 (PMC7009848))
  • 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. 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).
  • 3 citations from EFSA and the FDA, each one below.

What Glutamic acid 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. Glutamic acid 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.

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Sito app: a cereal scored 30 out of 100 for a child's age Sito app: logging a child's meal from a photo

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 Journal 2017;15(7):4910, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4910 (PMC7009848)
    Group ADI of 30 mg/kg bw/day expressed as glutamic acid for E 620–625 — i.e. E 620 is the substance the group ADI is expressed in terms of — derived from a NOAEL of 3,200 mg MSG/kg bw/day in a neurodevelopmental toxicity study with a default 100-fold uncertainty factor.
  • EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910, exposure assessment section (PMC7009848)
    In the refined non-brand-loyal scenario the MEAN exposure in toddlers and children exceeded the group ADI and the dose associated with the MSG symptom complex (>42.9 mg/kg bw/day); at the 95th percentile, exposure in infants, toddlers and children exceeded doses associated with adverse effects in humans.
  • FDA 21 CFR §182.1045 (glutamic acid, GRAS); cross-cited at 21 CFR §172.320 (amino acids)
    'This substance is generally recognized as safe when used as a salt substitute in accordance with good manufacturing practice.' Separately permitted under §172.320 as a nutrient to improve protein quality. US regulatory status is clean — the child concern is the EU exposure assessment, not a US restriction.

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 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 Glutamic acid (E620) 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: Group ADI of 30 mg/kg bw/day expressed as glutamic acid for E 620 to 625, i.e. E 620 is the substance the group ADI is expressed in terms of, derived from a NOAEL of 3,200 mg MSG/kg bw/day in a neurodevelopmental toxicity study with a default 100-fold uncertainty factor (EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4910 (PMC7009848)).

What is E620?

E620 is the E number for Glutamic acid, a flavor enhancer. Open Food Facts tags it en:e620.

Next to it on the label

The E numbers either side of E620 in our table, then the closest flavor enhancers by number.

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