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Monopotassium glutamate (E622)

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

Monopotassium glutamate is the flavor enhancer the food industry lists as E622. 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 covers E 620-625 including monopotassium glutamate, derived from a NOAEL of 3,200 mg MSG/kg bw/day with a 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).
  • 2 citations from EFSA, each one below.

What Monopotassium glutamate 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. Monopotassium glutamate 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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Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.

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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.

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IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or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 Monopotassium glutamate (E622) 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 covers E 620-625 including monopotassium glutamate, derived from a NOAEL of 3,200 mg MSG/kg bw/day with a 100-fold uncertainty factor (EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4910, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4910 (PMC7009848)).

What is E622?

E622 is the E number for Monopotassium glutamate, a flavor enhancer. Open Food Facts tags it en:e622.

Next to it on the label

The E numbers either side of E622 in our table, then the closest flavor enhancers by number.

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