Sodium malates are the acidity regulators the food industry lists as E350. In our table they are no risk identified: they take no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: 'Malic acid, sodium malate, potassium malate, and calcium malate, (E 296; E 350 (i), E 351, E 352(i)) have previously been evaluated by the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) in 1991 when a group ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) "not specified" was established.' JECFA (1980) likewise confirmed the group ADI 'not specified' first established at its 13th meeting in 1969. 'Malate occurs in all living organisms as an intermediate in the citric acid cycle. It occurs in relatively high amounts in many fruits and vegetables.' (EFSA FIP Unit, 'Call for data for the re-evaluation of malic acid and malates (E 296; E 350-352) as food additives' (efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-07/call-for-data-malic-acid-malates_0.pdf))
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. They turn up in 4 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in candy. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 4 citations from EFSA, the FDA and EU law, each one below.
What Sodium malates do 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. Sodium malates take 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
FIP Unit, 'Call for data for the re-evaluation of malic acid and malates (E 296; E 350-352) as food additives' (efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-07/call-for-data-malic-acid-malates_0.pdf)
'Malic acid, sodium malate, potassium malate, and calcium malate, (E 296; E 350 (i), E 351, E 352(i)) have previously been evaluated by the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) in 1991 when a group ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) "not specified" was established.' JECFA (1980) likewise confirmed the group ADI 'not specified' first established at its 13th meeting in 1969. 'Malate occurs in all living organisms as an intermediate in the citric acid cycle. It occurs in relatively high amounts in many fruits and vegetables.' -
EFSA
info session '(Re-)Evaluating Food Additives', Day 2, 20 March 2024 — 'Ongoing and upcoming calls for data' (efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-03/12-re-evaluations-food-additives-ongoing-and-upcoming-calls-for-data.pdf)
Lists 'Malic acid and malates (E 296; E 350-352)' among recently launched calls for data, with exposure data published 5 March 2024 and a deadline of 31 August 2024 — i.e. the EFSA re-evaluation opinion is still outstanding as of this table's date. -
FDA
21 CFR 184.1069 (Malic acid) — Part 184 "Direct Food Substances Affirmed as Generally Recognized as Safe"; verified against the current eCFR structure
Malic acid is affirmed GRAS as a direct human food substance. Its sodium salt has no separate Part 184 listing; the GRAS status the US shelf relies on is the acid one. -
EU law
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 Annex II, consolidated text 02008R1333 — EN — 16.12.2024 — 059.001 (EUR-Lex ELI: reg/2008/1333)
E 350 sodium malates authorised in the EU at quantum satis across the Group I categories.
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
Are Sodium malates (E350) 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: 'Malic acid, sodium malate, potassium malate, and calcium malate, (E 296; E 350 (i), E 351, E 352(i)) have previously been evaluated by the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) in 1991 when a group ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) "not specified" was established.' JECFA (1980) likewise confirmed the group ADI 'not specified' first established at its 13th meeting in 1969. 'Malate occurs in all living organisms as an intermediate in the citric acid cycle. It occurs in relatively high amounts in many fruits and vegetables.' (EFSA FIP Unit, 'Call for data for the re-evaluation of malic acid and malates (E 296; E 350-352) as food additives' (efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-07/call-for-data-malic-acid-malates_0.pdf)).
What is E350?
E350 is the E number for Sodium malates, which our table lists as an acidity regulator. Open Food Facts tags it en:e350.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E350 in our table, then the closest acidity regulators by number.
- Phosphoric acid (E338), high risk, flagged for young children
- Sodium phosphates (E339), high risk, flagged for young children
- Potassium phosphates (E340), high risk, flagged for young children
- Calcium phosphates (E341), high risk, flagged for young children
- Magnesium phosphates (E343), high risk, flagged for young children
- Adipic acid (E355), no risk identified