Sucralose (E955)

Sucralose is the sweetener the food industry lists as E955. In our table it is low risk: it takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 of the 100).

What Sucralose 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. Sucralose takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 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.

• EFSA Journal 2026;24(2):9854, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2026.9854 (PMC12911467), adopted 2025-12-10
  Re-evaluation concluded there is no need to revise the ADI of 15 mg/kg bw/day; exposure at currently authorised uses did not exceed the ADI in any population group (toddlers and children below ADI); no safety concern for genotoxicity of sucralose or its impurities, incl. sucralose-6-acetate at the 0.5% specification limit.
• EFSA Journal 2026;24(2):9854 (same opinion), extension-of-use part
  The Panel could not conclude on the safety of the proposed extension into fine bakery wares because of uncertainty over transfer of chlorine from sucralose to organic molecules under prolonged high temperature (>120 C) — the single unresolved hazard question, relevant to baked and fried foods.
• Peer-reviewed Schiffman et al. 2023, J Toxicol Environ Health B 26(6), doi:10.1080/10937404.2023.2213903
  Sucralose-6-acetate (a manufacturing impurity and gut metabolite) was genotoxic in MultiFlow and in vitro micronucleus assays with a clastogenic mode of action; commercial sucralose samples contained up to 0.67% sucralose-6-acetate.
• EFSA Call for data on genotoxicity data on sweeteners, published 2021-06-30 (efsa.europa.eu/en/call/call-data-genotoxicity-data-sweeteners)
  E 955 was named among sweeteners with identified genotoxicity data gaps (in vivo follow-up of positive in vitro results, plus testing of degradation products) — gaps subsequently addressed by the 2026 opinion for authorised uses only.

Why this class

A credible adverse or precautionary signal that stops short of every Moderate and High criterion: peer-reviewed adverse findings not yet reflected in regulatory status, an exposure exceedance confined to high-percentile or single-event estimates, or a precautionary regulatory step short of those criteria, a reduced ADI, a data limitation noted without an adverse conclusion, a narrowed or conditioned authorisation, or a child-focused assessment or school-food law that covers the additive as part of a class.

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 Sucralose (E955) safe for kids?

Low risk. In Sito it takes 6 points off the additive subscore (about 2 of the 100). The finding we rely on: Re-evaluation concluded there is no need to revise the ADI of 15 mg/kg bw/day; exposure at currently authorised uses did not exceed the ADI in any population group (toddlers and children below ADI); no safety concern for genotoxicity of sucralose or its impurities, incl. sucralose-6-acetate at the 0.5% specification limit (EFSA Journal 2026;24(2):9854, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2026.9854 (PMC12911467), adopted 2025-12-10).

What is E955?

E955 is the E number for Sucralose, a sweetener. Open Food Facts tags it en:e955.

Next to it on the label

The E numbers either side of E955 in our table, then the closest sweeteners by number.

• Acesulfame K (E950), no risk identified
• Aspartame (E951), moderate risk
• Cyclamic acid and its Na and Ca salts (E952), high risk
• Isomalt (E953), moderate risk
• Saccharin and its salts (E954), moderate risk
• Steviol glycosides (E960), low risk, flagged for young children