Anti-Caking Agents — Complete E-Number Guide

Anti-Caking Agents are food additives (E500–E599) that stop powders and granules clumping together. They are found in many everyday foods including table salt, spice mixes, powdered drinks, grated cheese and dry mixes. This guide covers every anti-caking agent E-number with its safety, vegan and halal status at a glance.

What do anti-caking agents do?

Additives in the anti-caking agents group stop powders and granules clumping together. Without them, many everyday products would spoil faster, separate, lose texture or look unappetising — which is why they appear in so many ingredients lists. Every additive in this table has been through EFSA's authorisation process, but as the safety column shows, "authorised" doesn't always mean "concern-free": some carry conditions, warnings or ongoing debates, and each entry links to a full breakdown.

Checking labels for anti-caking agents

On UK and EU labels these additives appear with their function and E-number or name — for example "anti-caking agent: E504". Tap any E-number in the table for its complete profile: what it is, where it's found, whether it's safe, and its vegan, vegetarian, halal and palm-oil status.

Additive data sourced from Open Food Facts (ODbL licence) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).