Stearyl tartrate
A mostly obsolete bakery emulsifier.
- Category
- Emulsifiers
- Vegan
- maybe
- Vegetarian
- maybe
What it is
A synthetic dough strengthener used primarily in commercial bread baking.
How it is used in food
A flour-treatment agent and dough strengthener: it interacts with gluten to improve gas retention, giving better loaf volume and a finer crumb in bread and fine bakery wares.
Commonly found in- Bread
- Bakery wares
Health and safety
Safe for consumption, but not explicitly authorised across all food categories in modern EU updates.
Toxicological reviews found that it hydrolyses in the gut to stearyl alcohol and tartaric acid, neither of which raised concern at bakery use levels. Because commercial use has all but stopped, it has attracted little recent evaluation, and its EU authorisation is limited to specific categories rather than general use.
Regulatory status
| Region | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Australia & New Zealand FSANZ |
Permitted | Permitted under the FSANZ Food Standards Code. |
| European Union EFSA / European Commission |
Not approved | Not on the EU authorised list of food additives (Annex II). |
| United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration) |
Permitted | Authorised for food use by the FDA (often GRAS for standard additives). |
Identification on labels
- E-number
- E483
Worth knowing
It is essentially a period piece — one of the earliest synthetic bread emulsifiers, almost entirely displaced by DATEM (E 472e) and other mono- and diglyceride esters, and in the EU it survives only in a couple of baked-goods categories. Many manufacturers have never used it.
Conclusion
A mostly obsolete bakery emulsifier.
References
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Open the appEntry last reviewed 2026-07-28.
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