Tara gum is the thickener the food industry lists as E417. In our table it is no risk identified: it takes no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: SCF and JECFA both allocated ADI 'not specified'; EFSA concluded there is no need for a numerical ADI for tara gum (E 417) and no safety concern for the general population at the reported uses and use levels (PMC7009841, Re-evaluation of tara gum (E 417) as a food additive)
- No child flag. The class, and the points it costs, are the same for a child of any age.
- Where you meet it. It turns up in 17 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in ice cream, meat alternatives and cakes. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 2 citations from EFSA and the FDA, each one below.
What Tara gum 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. Tara gum 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.
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EFSA
PMC7009841 - Re-evaluation of tara gum (E 417) as a food additive
SCF and JECFA both allocated ADI 'not specified'; EFSA concluded there is no need for a numerical ADI for tara gum (E 417) and no safety concern for the general population at the reported uses and use levels. -
FDA
constituent update, 'FDA Update on the Post-market Assessment of Tara Flour'; FDA post-market not-GRAS determination list entry 'taraflour'
FDA determined there are insufficient data and no history of safe use to consider tara FLOUR GRAS, and no food additive regulation authorises it - making it an unapproved food additive. This determination concerns tara flour, not tara gum (E 417).
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 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 Tara gum (E417) 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: SCF and JECFA both allocated ADI 'not specified'; EFSA concluded there is no need for a numerical ADI for tara gum (E 417) and no safety concern for the general population at the reported uses and use levels (EFSA, PMC7009841, Re-evaluation of tara gum (E 417) as a food additive).
What is E417?
E417 is the E number for Tara gum, a thickener. Open Food Facts tags it en:e417.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E417 in our table, then the closest thickeners by number.
- Locust bean gum (E410), no risk identified
- Guar gum (E412), no risk identified
- Tragacanth (E413), no risk identified
- Acacia gum (E414), no risk identified
- Xanthan gum (E415), no risk identified
- Gellan gum (E418), no risk identified