Propylene glycol is the additive the food industry lists as E1520. In our table it is no risk identified: it takes no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: No reason to revise the ADI of 25 mg/kg bw/day; mean and P95 refined brand-loyal exposure did not exceed the ADI in any population group (EFSA Journal 2018;16(4):5235, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5235, Re-evaluation of propane-1,2-diol (E 1520))
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 2 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).
- 2 citations from EFSA and the FDA, each one below.
What Propylene glycol 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. Propylene glycol 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.
-
EFSA
Journal 2018;16(4):5235 — doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5235, Re-evaluation of propane-1,2-diol (E 1520)
No reason to revise the ADI of 25 mg/kg bw/day; mean and P95 refined brand-loyal exposure did not exceed the ADI in any population group. -
FDA
Substances Added to Food inventory — propylene glycol
GRAS direct food substance (humectant, solvent, carrier).
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 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 Propylene glycol (E1520) 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: No reason to revise the ADI of 25 mg/kg bw/day; mean and P95 refined brand-loyal exposure did not exceed the ADI in any population group (EFSA Journal 2018;16(4):5235, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5235, Re-evaluation of propane-1,2-diol (E 1520)).
What is E1520?
E1520 is the E number for Propylene glycol, an additive. Open Food Facts tags it en:e1520.
Next to it on the label
The E number before E1520 in our table, then the closest additives of the same kind by number.
- Proteases (E1101), no risk identified
- Invertase (E1103), no risk identified
- Lipase (E1104), no risk identified
- Polydextrose (E1200), no risk identified
- Ethanol (E1510), no risk identified
- Benzyl alcohol (E1519), no risk identified