Food Safety Substance
Butylated hydroxytolueneE321
Butylated hydroxytoluene (E321) is a food additive with PUBLISHED in the EU, GRAS in the US, and data from 8 regulatory sources.
Substance Identity
Resolved identifiers used to render this food-safety record.
Multi-Jurisdiction Comparison
Side-by-side status rows for the same resolved substance across public food regulators.
| Jurisdiction | Authority | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | EU Commission | PUBLISHED | EU additive listing; Annex II entry |
| Canada | Health Canada | Listed | Preservative |
EU Food Additive Status
EU Commission food-additive listing rows from eu_food_additives.
| Jurisdiction | E-number | Status | Type | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | E321 | PUBLISHED | substanceFAD | Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) | - |
EU Annex II Authorised Uses
Authorised additive rows and use conditions from EU Annex II tables.
| Jurisdiction | E-number | Name | INS | Policy item | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | E321 | Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) | - | POL-FAD-IMPORT-3094 | - |
Conditions and restrictions
| Jurisdiction | Food category | Restriction | Comment | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | 2.1 fats and oils essentially free from water (excluding anhydrous milk fat) | ML 100 mg/kg | only fats and oils for the professional manufacture of heat treated foods; frying oil and frying fat (excluding olive an pomace oil) and lard, fish oil, beef, poultry and sheep fat | EU Food Additives Database |
| European Union | 2.2.2 Other fat and oil emulsions including spreads as defined by Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and liquid emulsions | ML 100 mg/kg | only frying fat | EU Food Additives Database |
Health Canada Status
Health Canada food-additive permissions by functional class and food scope.
| Jurisdiction | Class | Permitted foods | Maximum level | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Preservative | (a)Calorie-reduced margarine; Margarine | (a)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 0.01% of the fat content. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 0.01% of the fat content. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (b)Chewing gum | (b)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 200 ppm. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 200 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (c)Citrus oil flavours; Dry flavours; Essential oils | (c)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 1,250 ppm. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 1,250 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (d)Citrus oils | (d)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 5,000 ppm. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 5,000 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (e)Dehydrated potato products; Dried breakfast cereals | (e)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 50 ppm. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 50 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (f)Dry vitamin D preparations for addition to food | (f)10 mg/1,000,000 I.U. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (g)Fats and oils, except milk fat, olive oil and suet; Lard; Shortening | (g)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 200 ppm. If used in any combination with butylated hydroxyanisole, propyl gallate or tertiary butyl hydroquinone, the total combined amount not to exceed 200 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (h)Parboiled rice | (h)35 ppm | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (i)Partially defatted beef fatty tissue; Partially defatted pork fatty tissue | (i)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 65 ppm. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole, the total combined amount not to exceed 65 ppm. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (j)Unstandardized foods, except unstandardized preparations of meat or meat by-product, fish or meat (as defined in section B.21.002 of the *Food and Drug Regulations*) or poultry meat or poultry meat by-product and... | (j)If used singly, the amount not to exceed 0.02% of the fat content. If used in combination with butylated hydroxyanisole or propyl gallate, or both, the total combined amount not to exceed 0.02% of the fat content. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
| Canada | Preservative | (k)Vitamin A liquids for addition to food | (k)5 mg/1,000,000 I.U. | List of Permitted Preservatives |
EU FCM Substances
EU food-contact material rows and migration-limit fields.
| Jurisdiction | FCM no. | Ref no. | Substance | Use | SML | Regulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | 315 | 46640 | 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol | additive/PPA | 3 mg/kg | Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, Annex I |
JECFA ADI Values
JECFA ADI records and evaluation years.
| Jurisdiction | Chemical name | JECFA no. | CAS | ADI | ADI upper | Function | Evaluation year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JECFA | BUTYLATED HYDROXYTOLUENE | - | 128-37-0 | 0-0.3 mg/kg bw | 0.3 | ANTIOXIDANT | 1995 |
Cross-Reference to Cosmetics / Chemicals / Pharma
Same-CAS public rows from adjacent Roots verticals where available.
Cross-Vertical Regulatory Divergence
This substance has different regulatory treatment across food, cosmetics, and industrial use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Food-use, safety, ADI, and cross-vertical answers mirrored into FAQPage JSON-LD.
What is Butylated hydroxytoluene used for in food?
Butylated hydroxytoluene appears in food-use rows as: Antioxidant; Preservative.
Is Butylated hydroxytoluene / E321 safe?
This page does not assign a standalone safety verdict; it renders public regulatory evidence. ADI/reference value: EFSA ADI = 0.25 mg/kg bw/day. EU status evidence: PUBLISHED. US/FDA evidence: GRAS.
What is the ADI for Butylated hydroxytoluene?
Butylated hydroxytoluene has this ADI/reference value in the food-safety tables: EFSA ADI = 0.25 mg/kg bw/day. Source: EFSA ANS 2012.
Is Butylated hydroxytoluene also used in cosmetics?
Butylated hydroxytoluene has a same-CAS cosmetics cross-reference: BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), EU status restricted.