Sucroglycerides are the emulsifiers the food industry lists as E474. In our table they are high risk: they take 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100).
- The key finding, from EFSA: The origin of the GROUP ADI of 40 mg/kg bw per day shared by E 473 and E 474, the single fact on which this row's class rests. Because the ADI is a group ADI, the two members cannot be scored differently on the exposure basis (10.2903/j.efsa.2004.106 (EFSA Journal 2004;2(11):106, Opinion of the AFC Panel on Sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) and sucroglycerides (E 474)))
- 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 them. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 4 citations from EFSA and EU law, each one below.
What Sucroglycerides 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. Sucroglycerides take 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.
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
10.2903/j.efsa.2004.106 (EFSA Journal 2004;2(11):106 — Opinion of the AFC Panel on Sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) and sucroglycerides (E 474))
The origin of the GROUP ADI of 40 mg/kg bw per day shared by E 473 and E 474 — the single fact on which this row's class rests. Because the ADI is a group ADI, the two members cannot be scored differently on the exposure basis. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5087 (EFSA Journal 2018;16(1):5087 — Refined exposure assessment of sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) from its use as a food additive)
'The Panel noted that the current exposure estimates to sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) exceeded the ADI of 40 mg/kg bw per day for many population groups; especially toddlers and children.' Note the basis: the assessment measures E 473's uses, not E 474's. It is cited here because the ADI it measures against is the group ADI shared with E 474, not because sucroglycerides were measured. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7961 (EFSA Journal 2023;21(4):7961 — Re-evaluation of sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) as a food additive in foods for infants below 16 weeks of age and follow-up of its previous evaluations)
The FAF Panel MAINTAINED the group ADI at 40 mg/kg bw/day and restated the exceedance with updated use levels, and calls it 'the group acceptable daily intake (ADI) of sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) and sucroglycerides (E 474) established by the EFSA AFC Panel in 2004'. The same opinion records that E 474 was labelled on only 6 Mintel products between 2018 and 2023 — i.e. E 474's own market use is negligible, which is why this row's confidence is medium. -
EU law
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 Annex II, consolidated text 02008R1333 — EN — 09.11.2025 (incorporating Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2058; EUR-Lex ELI: reg/2008/1333)
E 474 remains authorised in the EU and is listed JOINTLY with E 473 as "E 473-474: Sucrose esters of fatty acids, Sucroglycerides" with combined numerical maximum levels by food category. Verified against the 09.11.2025 consolidation: Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2058 (the only post-2023 Annex II action touching E 473-474) is housekeeping aligning categories with Reg 609/2013 — it does not delist E 474 and does not restrict the fine-bakery-wares category that drives the exceedance.
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 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 Sucroglycerides (E474) 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: The origin of the GROUP ADI of 40 mg/kg bw per day shared by E 473 and E 474, the single fact on which this row's class rests. Because the ADI is a group ADI, the two members cannot be scored differently on the exposure basis (EFSA, 10.2903/j.efsa.2004.106 (EFSA Journal 2004;2(11):106, Opinion of the AFC Panel on Sucrose esters of fatty acids (E 473) and sucroglycerides (E 474))).
What is E474?
E474 is the E number for Sucroglycerides, which our table lists as an emulsifier. Open Food Facts tags it en:e474.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E474 in our table, then the closest emulsifiers by number.
- Esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472), no risk identified
- ACETEM (E472a), no risk identified
- Lactic acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472b), no risk identified
- CITREM (E472c), no risk identified
- Sucrose esters of fatty acids (E473), high risk, flagged for young children
- Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (E475), no risk identified