Which E-numbers are vegan? The reference list

Most E-numbers are minerals, plant extracts or synthetic compounds with no animal involvement whatsoever. The problem is a short list where the code describes a function rather than a source — and the same number can be plant or animal depending on the factory.

Always animal-derived

Code	What it is	Where you meet it
E120	Carmine / cochineal, from insects	Red sweets, yoghurts, drinks
E441	Gelatin	Sweets, mousses, capsules
E542	Bone phosphate	Anti-caking agent, supplements
E901	Beeswax	Glazes, coatings
E904	Shellac, from the lac insect	Shiny sweets, coated fruit
E913	Lanolin, from wool	Gum, vitamin D3
E966	Lactitol, from lactose	Sugar-free products
E1105	Lysozyme, from egg white	Cheese, wine

Genuinely ambiguous — this is the real problem

Code	Possible sources
E422 glycerol	Animal fat, plant oil or synthetic
E471 mono- and diglycerides	Animal fat or plant oil — the most common one by far
E472a–f	Same question as E471
E570 stearic acid	Animal or plant fat
E631 disodium inosinate	Meat, fish or fermentation
E920 L-cysteine	Feathers, hair, or synthetic/microbial
E640 glycine	Animal or synthetic

Always vegan

Worth knowing so you stop worrying about them:

• Colours — E100 curcumin, E140 chlorophyll, E160a carotenes, E162 beetroot red, E163 anthocyanins.
• Acids and antioxidants — E300 ascorbic acid, E322 lecithin (usually soy or sunflower), E330 citric acid.
• Thickeners — E406 agar, E407 carrageenan, E410 locust bean, E412 guar, E414 gum arabic, E415 xanthan, E440 pectin.
• Minerals — E170 calcium carbonate, E500 bicarbonate.

Note that E322 lecithin can technically be egg-derived, but in food it is overwhelmingly soy or sunflower, and egg lecithin is normally declared as such.

What the codes cannot tell you

Processing aids are not ingredients under labelling law, so they carry no code at all: bone char in sugar refining, isinglass in beer, gelatin fining in wine. A complete reading of every E-number on a package still misses these entirely — which is a limit of the label, not of the reader.

The practical method

1. Look for a vegan or vegetarian claim first. It resolves the ambiguous group instantly.
2. Scan for the eight always-animal codes. They are unambiguous.
3. Treat E471 and its relatives as unknown unless a claim resolves them.
4. Remember that drinks and sugar can fail on something no code covers.