Stearyl tartrate is a chemical compound, ester resulting from the reaction of stearyl alcohol with tartaric acid. It is predominantly composed of vegetable oil.

It appears in the form of a whitish powder.

What it is used for and where

Food

Ingredient included in the list of European food additives as E483 with an emulsifying function.

Safety

The Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) provided a scientific opinion re-evaluating the safety of stearyl tartrate (E 483) as a food additive. Exposure to stearyl tartrate (E 483) was calculated using the maximum level exposure assessment scenario as neither use levels nor analytical data were available. Mean exposure to stearyl tartrate (E 483) as a food additive ranged from 0.1 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day in infants to 82.5 mg/kg bw per day in toddlers. The 95th percentile of exposure ranged from 0 mg/kg bw per day in adults to 192.7 mg/kg bw per day in toddlers. The Panel also noted that information from the Mintel's GNPD indicates that only two products have been labelled with stearyl tartrate (E 483) since 1996 (1).

• Molecular Formula    C₄0H₇₈O₆
• Molecular Weight     655.0 
• IUPAC  dioctadecyl 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioate
• InChl=1S/C40H78O6/c1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-29-31-33-35-45-39(43)37(41)38(42)40(44)46-36-34-32-30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2/h37-38,41-42H,3-36H2,1-2H3
• InChl Key      RYGCHSSZXHQCEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
• SMILES  CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCOC(=O)C(C(C(=O)OCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC)O)O
• Nikkaji    J539.046J

Synonyms:

• Tartaric acid dioctadecyl ester

References_____________________________________________________________________

(1) Additives, E.F.S.A., Younes, M., Aquilina, G., Castle, L., Engel, K.H., Fowler, P., Frutos Fernandez, M.J., Fürst, P., Gürtler, R., Gundert-Remy, U. and Husøy, T., 2020. Re-evaluation of stearyl tartrate (E 483) as a food additive. EFSA Journal.