Zinc acetate is the flavor enhancer the food industry lists as E650. In our table it is no risk identified: it takes no points off a product's score.
- The key finding, from EFSA: Use of zinc acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum was considered acceptable at up to approximately 1 mg zinc acetate dihydrate (about 0.30 mg zinc) per 1,000 mg of chewing gum centre; EU authorisation under Reg. (EC) 1333/2008 is restricted to chewing gum and no EFSA re-evaluation opinion could be located (Scientific Committee on Food (EFSA predecessor), 'Opinion on Zinc Acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum', food.ec.europa.eu sci-com_scf_out06)
- 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 Zinc acetate 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. Zinc acetate 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
Scientific Committee on Food (EFSA predecessor), 'Opinion on Zinc Acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum', food.ec.europa.eu sci-com_scf_out06
Use of zinc acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum was considered acceptable at up to approximately 1 mg zinc acetate dihydrate (about 0.30 mg zinc) per 1,000 mg of chewing gum centre; EU authorisation under Reg. (EC) 1333/2008 is restricted to chewing gum and no EFSA re-evaluation opinion could be located.
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 low. 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 Zinc acetate (E650) 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: Use of zinc acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum was considered acceptable at up to approximately 1 mg zinc acetate dihydrate (about 0.30 mg zinc) per 1,000 mg of chewing gum centre; EU authorisation under Reg. (EC) 1333/2008 is restricted to chewing gum and no EFSA re-evaluation opinion could be located (EFSA, Scientific Committee on Food (EFSA predecessor), 'Opinion on Zinc Acetate as a flavour enhancer in chewing gum', food.ec.europa.eu sci-com_scf_out06).
What is E650?
E650 is the E number for Zinc acetate, a flavor enhancer. Open Food Facts tags it en:e650.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E650 in our table, then the closest flavor enhancers by number.
- Dipotassium inosinate (E632), no risk identified
- Calcium inosinate (E633), no risk identified
- Calcium 5'-ribonucleotides (E634), no risk identified
- Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides (E635), no risk identified
- Glycine and its sodium salt (E640), low risk
- Dimethylpolysiloxane and methylphenylpolysiloxane (E900), no risk identified