What is  E473, Sucrose esters of fatty acids

It is an additive, a nonionic powder emulsifier consisting of the sucrose ester, used by the food industry in:

• Ice creams: as an emulsifier
• Baked goods: they optimize the increase in volume
• Drinks: reduce the coagulation of proteins in a warm environment.
• Dessert, Creams : stabilizer

As food additives they are included under the number E473 in the European additives list and fatty acids derived from edible fats and oils are used for their production (lauric acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, etc.) are used. Stearic acid-type products are preferentially used because of their flavor and functional characteristics (1).

In pharmaceutical products they are generally used as 

• stabilisers:  are substances which make it possible to maintain the physico-chemical state of a foodstuff; stabilisers include substances which enable the maintenance of a homogenous dispersion of two or more immiscible substances in a foodstuff, substances which stabilise, retain or intensify an existing colour of a foodstuff and substances which increase the binding capacity of the food, including the formation of cross-links between proteins enabling the binding of food pieces into re-constituted food;
• coating agents

In cosmetic products as

• foaming agents
• emulsifiers

Safety

The EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food provides a scientific opinion on the safety  of  sucrose  esters  of  fatty  acids  produced  by  a  new  manufacturing  method  from  sucrose  and  vinyl  esters  of  fatty  acids,  and  an  evaluation  of  the  extension  of  the  use  of  this  additive  to  flavoured  fruit beverages. In 2004 EFSA established a group ADI of 40 mg/kg bw/day for sucrose esters of fatty acids, however this evaluation did not consider sucrose esters of lauric acid. The Panel considers that although the toxicological data on the sucrose ester of lauric acid are limited, they do not give rise to concerns  since  lauric  acid  is  a  natural  constituent  of  a  number  of  foods.  The  new  manufacturing  method results in residues of vinyl esters of fatty acids of ADI (2).

Synonyms :

• Sucrose fatty acid esters
• Sucrose, fatty acid ester
• Fatty acids, sucrose esters
• LS-186328

References__________________________________________________________

(1) Nagai Y, Kawano S, Motoda K, Tomida M, Tatebe C, Sato K, Akiyama H. Solubility Testing of Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids in International Food Additive Specifications.  Biol Pharm Bull. 2017 Mar 1;40(3):284-289. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b16-00738. Epub 2016 Dec 20

(2) https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1512