Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate (E217)

Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate is the preservative the food industry lists as E217. 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).

What Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate 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. Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate 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.

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.

• EU law Directive 2006/52/EC of 5 July 2006 (OJ 26.7.2006), Annex I point (3)(a)(i); status re-checked against Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, consolidated text 02008R1333 — EN — 16.12.2024 — 059.001 (EUR-Lex), Annex II Part B 'List of all additives' and Annex III
  'the rows for "E 216 Propyl p-hydroxybenzoate" and "E 217 Sodium propyl p‐hydroxybenzoate" are deleted' — E 217 is deleted by name and number, not by read-across. 'E 217' appears nowhere in the current consolidated Union list.
• EFSA 10.2903/j.efsa.2004.83 (AFC Panel opinion on para hydroxybenzoates E214–E219)
  The propyl esters were excluded from the methyl/ethyl group ADI on the juvenile-rat sex-hormone and male-reproductive-organ findings with no clear NOAEL; the opinion's scope covers the p-hydroxybenzoates E 214–E 219 including their sodium salts.
• US state law US-CA: AB 418, California Food Safety Act (2023), codified at Health and Safety Code §109025; US-WV: HB 2354 (signed 2025-03-24)
  Both statutes ban 'propylparaben' — CA from all food sold in the state from 2027-01-01, WV via the adulteration route (schools in force 2025-08-01; statewide 2028-01-01 preliminarily enjoined Dec 2025). It is not established whether the statutory text extends to the sodium salt; the classification follows the parent acid.

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IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or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 Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate (E217) 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). The finding we rely on: 'the rows for "E 216 Propyl p-hydroxybenzoate" and "E 217 Sodium propyl p‐hydroxybenzoate" are deleted', E 217 is deleted by name and number, not by read-across. 'E 217' appears nowhere in the current consolidated Union list (EU: Directive 2006/52/EC of 5 July 2006 (OJ 26.7.2006), Annex I point (3)(a)(i); status re-checked against Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, consolidated text 02008R1333, EN, 16.12.2024, 059.001 (EUR-Lex), Annex II Part B 'List of all additives' and Annex III).

What is E217?

E217 is the E number for Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate, a preservative. Open Food Facts tags it en:e217.

Next to it on the label

The E numbers either side of E217 in our table, then the closest preservatives by number.

• ethylparaben (E214), low risk
• Sodium ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate (E215), low risk
• propylparaben (E216), high risk
• methylparaben (E218), low risk
• Sodium methyl p-hydroxybenzoate (E219), low risk
• Sulphur dioxide (E220), high risk, flagged for young children