Flavour Enhancers — Complete E-Number Guide
Flavour Enhancers are food additives (E600–E699) that boost the existing savoury flavour of foods. They are found in many everyday foods including crisps, instant noodles, soups, stock cubes, savoury snacks and ready meals. This guide covers every flavour enhancer E-number with its safety, vegan and halal status at a glance.
| E-Number | Name | Safety | Vegan | Halal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E620 | Glutamic Acid | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E621 | Monosodium Glutamate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E622 | Monopotassium Glutamate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E623 | Calcium Diglutamate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E624 | Monoammonium Glutamate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E625 | Magnesium Diglutamate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
| E626 | Guanylic Acid | Safe | Uncertain | Doubtful |
| E627 | Disodium Guanylate | Safe | Uncertain | Doubtful |
| E628 | Dipotassium Guanylate | Safe | Uncertain | Doubtful |
| E629 | Calcium Guanylate | Safe | Uncertain | Doubtful |
| E630 | Inosinic Acid | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E631 | Disodium Inosinate | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E632 | Dipotassium Inosinate | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E633 | Calcium Inosinate | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E634 | Calcium 5'-Ribonucleotides | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E635 | Disodium 5'-Ribonucleotides | Safe | Uncertain | Haram |
| E640 | Glycine and its Sodium Salt | Safe | Uncertain | Doubtful |
| E650 | Zinc Acetate | Safe | Yes | Halal |
What do flavour enhancers do?
Additives in the flavour enhancers group boost the existing savoury flavour of foods. 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 flavour enhancers
On UK and EU labels these additives appear with their function and E-number or name — for example "flavour enhancer: E620". 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.
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Additive data sourced from Open Food Facts (ODbL licence) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).