Synthetic wax is the additive the food industry lists as E905. In our table it is no risk identified: it takes no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: No concern for genotoxicity; no ADI established for lack of long-term studies; conservative quantum satis exposure gives a sufficient margin of safety versus the high-viscosity mineral oil NOAEL, so authorised uses are not of safety concern (EFSA Journal 2013;11(4):3146, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3146, Re-evaluation of microcrystalline wax (E 905))
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. None of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts list it. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 1 citation from EFSA, each one below.
What Synthetic wax 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. Synthetic wax 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 2013;11(4):3146 — doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3146, Re-evaluation of microcrystalline wax (E 905)
No concern for genotoxicity; no ADI established for lack of long-term studies; conservative quantum satis exposure gives a sufficient margin of safety versus the high-viscosity mineral oil NOAEL, so authorised uses are not of safety concern.
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 Synthetic wax (E905) 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 concern for genotoxicity; no ADI established for lack of long-term studies; conservative quantum satis exposure gives a sufficient margin of safety versus the high-viscosity mineral oil NOAEL, so authorised uses are not of safety concern (EFSA Journal 2013;11(4):3146, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3146, Re-evaluation of microcrystalline wax (E 905)).
What is E905?
E905 is the E number for Synthetic wax, an additive. Open Food Facts tags it en:e905.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E905 in our table, then the closest additives of the same kind by number.
- Dimethylpolysiloxane and methylphenylpolysiloxane (E900), no risk identified
- White and yellow beeswax (E901), no risk identified
- Carnauba wax (E903), no risk identified
- Shellac (E904), no risk identified
- Montanic acid esters (E912), no risk identified
- Oxidised polyethylene wax (E914), no risk identified